Holocaust lecture by Helen Hoffman

“We must never forget what happened to our people just 70 years ago. We are Jews first not Americans. We cannot feel insulated.” On Saturday Night, November 8th 2014, Mrs. Helen Hoffman, Holocaust lecturer with Torah Umesorah, eloquently shared her mother’s experience living through the holocaust. The program took place at Congregation Nachlas Yitzhok (Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbam’s shul) and was organized by the CHAZAQ Women’s Division. She pointed out how anti- Semitism is on the rise again in our time. She reminded the audience that no European nation would take in Jews during the Holocaust. She spoke about November 9, 1938, Kristalnacht, which many say was the catalyst for the Holocaust. In German and Austria, soldiers and police arrested 30,000 Jewish men and murdered 90. They took out Torah scrolls and sefarim and burned and destroyed them. They broke all the windows of shuls and Jewish businesses. She quoted Mr. Ben Brafman who wrote about his grandfather He said, “You must be reminded of my murder at Auschwitz, not my death...” The world heard our screams but did not care.” Mrs. Hoffman’s message entered everyone’s heart. Her mother’s story was really the story of the Jewish people. G-d was there in her mother’s life, even in the midst of such horror. G-d is always there with us no matter what. She imparted that every survivor’s story is miraculous and how vital it is now that young people hear these stories and experiences as the number of survivors diminishes. Her mother spoke to her children and grandchildren every day about her experiences and the stories that happened to her. Her mother’s life as a carefree child in Poland was suddenly striped away. Her mother suffered the horrors of Auschwitz, losing her whole family in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and then experiencing the famous Death March. Throughout these horrors, G-d sent her signs that she would survive and He was there with her. Mrs. Hoffman shared the unspeakable suffering of the Jewish people during that time period and she stressed how the Jewish people longed for a connection with G-d even in this dark time. People hid tefillin and put it on at the risk of their lives. Her mother traded her precious meager portion of bread for a potato during Pesach. There are so many stories of Jewish people risking their lives to perform a mitzvah—to connect to G-d. She related how her mother was 15 years old in a work camp and forced to carry a heavy axe to break ice during the coldest 5 months in Poland. Her mother would hide under the dead bodies lying outside to keep herself warm. She shared how her mother witnessed the hanging of a group of righteous young girls between the ages of 16 and 18 who bravely hid tiny pieces of gunpowder that enabled the Underground to blow up a crematoria at Auschwitz. Our people did not go meekly to the slaughter. There were underground organizations of Jews fighting back as best they could at many of the death camps. It is not true that we did not fight back. Her mother had a recurring dream during this time. Her mother’s beloved grandmother came to her in the dream and showed her 100’s of men in tailasim davening in a beautiful shul. Her grandmother told her, they were all davening for her to survive. Her mother saw this as a clear sign from G-d that she would live. Also, during her time in Auschwitz, a young man from her home town who saved many Jewish lives by secretly smuggling extra food to them from his position in charge of the German’s food commission, recognized her. He sent her food and a note that said “You will survive and we will be together.” She told her daughter that it was the fact that someone cared about her that gave her strength to continue. Later, this same young man bribed a German official with a pack of cigarettes which saved her mother from being sent to the crematoria. Again, this was clearly Hashem’s Hasgacha. Mrs. Hoffman offered a passionate plea. She concluded on a hopeful note. She remarked on the miracle of her own family. Her mother survived to produce a beautiful family of children and grandchildren and great grandchildren steeped in Torah and mitzvos and love of Hashem. “I know Mashiach is coming. I know he’s on the way. We should all merit to see him.” For more information about upcoming Chazaq events and programs, please email [email protected] or Visit https://www.chazaq.org/ Together We Can Make A Difference, To donate online to CHAZAQ please visit https://www.fidelipay.com/chazaq