postheadericon Historical context of growing up

12:06 | Posted by GroupLit | | Edit Post

The Holocaust is a major part of Bernice Eisenstein memoir. She wants to learn and know more about it to try to understand what her parents and their friends experienced. She wanted to know about the event that had impacted and shaped them so. In looking at her parents past, she is not only looking at them, but at herself as well (their past is her past).


Holocaust : Brief overview
The Holocaust was the systematic state-sponsored persecution and genocide of Jewish people by the Nazis in World War two. (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2011).The Nazis believed that Germans were racially superior and the Jewish people were a threat(other groups deemed “racially inferior” were also targeted.(United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2011). Hitler believed that the Jewish people were responsible for the struggle of Germany at the end of World War one, had too much power in society, and should be removed by any means necessary. This and other conspiracy theories added to the growing anti-Semitism in Germany and parts of Europe (Stanton G.H. 1998). In the early stages Jewish people were classified (were not considered “German”) and given identifying markers (star patches on their clothing, and later identification tattoos) (Stanton G.,H. 1998). They were then demonized and dehumanized which caused hatred, isolation and allowed violence (e.g. destroying properties, beating and murdering) against them (“Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder”)(Stanton G.,H. 1998). They were denied and stripped of their rights (e.g. they couldn't own property, couldn't work for people who weren't Jewish, were no longer German citizens, forced slave labor, and so on.). They were then isolated and segregated into ghettos or sent to labor camps (Stanton G.,H. 1998). From there they would be sent to concentrations and extermination camps. Upon arrival (if they weren't immediately killed), their heads were shaved and possessions and clothing taken away. They were subjected to forced labor with horrible working conditions and very long hours. They were also subjected to malnourishment/starvation, dehydration, crowded conditions and unsuitable conditions, inhuman treatment, terrible scenes and experiences, murder and abuse (some were subjected to torture or medical experiments). In the camps those in charge would decide the fate of the people. If they were sent off to the left they would be killed. The Nazis used gas chambers to kill around 3 million Jewish people and shootings to kill close to 2 million (AICE, Holocaust, 2011).

Auschwitz-Birkenau was one of the largest and widely known extermination/concentration camps and is “known around the world as a symbol of Nazi genocide” (Państwowe, 2011 ).  This was that Bernice Eisenstein parents were sent to and survived. The Jewish population in Europe in 1933 was around 9 million. By 1945, the Nazi and their collaborators had killed 6 million (2 out of every 3) (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2011). This gives some insight into what affected her parents.

Her Mother
The Germans came to her city, burned the synagogues and chased down Jewish people. Food was cut off or rationed and it became like an unofficial ghetto (Eisenstein, 2006). In 1940 they were rounded up and her father was sent away to do roadwork (Eisenstein, 2006). Later they were rounded up again and some, including her grandparents were sent off for selection (Eisenstein, 2006). Her and her family hid for a few days but were discovered and shipped off to Birkenau. Their heads were shaved, possessions were taken and arms were tattooed (Eisenstein, 2006).  She had gotten dysentery and typhus . She went into a coma and woke up two weeks later.  If not for her friend Rose (gave her red tissue paper to rub on her face so she would look healthier), she would have been killed (Mengele wanted typhus patients removed)(Eisenstein, 2006). She worked as an item sorter (sorting the confiscated items) in a warehouse called Canada (nicknamed that because of the abundance it held) ((Eisenstein, 2006)). She was later transferred to Auschwitz (she was going to be sent to a farm and separated from her mother and sister). In 1945 the camp was to be evacuated. She and some friends  hid in a warehouse under clothing until dark(Eisenstein, 2006). They hid there for four days. The Russians came and liberated them. She eventually reunited with her mother and sister. They also reunited with their father in Sweden. Her brother Lemel did not survive (Eisenstein, 2006).

Her Father
Her father was conscripted into the polish cavalry and returned home to Miechow in Poland when his horse was wounded (Eisenstein, 2006). After Germany invaded Poland,  He and his brother  forced into labor at their base for two years(Eisenstein, 2006). They returned to the ghetto their family was kept at to find that it had been liquidated(Eisenstein, 2006). His father, mother and two sisters (one married and pregnant) did not survive. He and his brother were sent to a concentration camp for two years before they were separated(Eisenstein, 2006). He was sent to Auschwitz where he spent eleven months until liberation. Her mother and father met at Auschwitz before liberation, they married after. Also after liberation he and his brother united. His brother and the mother's sister married. After the war her father  joined the polish paramilitary and seek out Nazi collaborators and also participated in the black marketing to make enough money for a new life (though this was rather unsuccessful)(Eisenstein, 2006).

After the Holocaust
Immigration to Canada In 1948, Canada  established anti-discrimination laws allowing almost two million new immigrant, including many Holocaust survivors into Canada (AICE, Holocaust, 2011). After WWII, around 40,000 Holocaust survivors came in the late 1940's  and 1950's (her parents coming in 1949). They were hoping to get a new start and distance themselves from the terrible experiences and memories of what happened in Europe (Anne Frank Guide 2011). This was likely the goal of Bernice Eisenstein parents (to start over, leave the past behind, etc). The survivor immigrants moved to cities such as Montreal, Toronto (which Bernice Eisenstein and her family lived) and Winnipeg. Today, the majority of Canada's Jewish population is located in Toronto(175,000) and Montreal (80,000) (Cohen, n.d.). In Canada, Holocaust survivors and their children make up 30-40% of Canada's Jewish population (Levine 2000).

Her childhood span the 1950's and 1960's in
Bernice Eisenstein was born in October during Yon Kippur in 1949 in Toronto (Eisenstein, 2006). She has an older sister named Sharron (born in Europe before they came to Canada) and a brother named Michael (also born in Canada)(Eisenstein, 2006). Bernice Eisenstein grew up in Toronto during the 1950's and 1960'. She lived in Kensington market was described as “the heart of the Jewish community” and the “Jewish market” in the 1950's (though there was a thriving Jewish community already established there). It was an open market that contained various shops, and signs of Jewish Culture. They later moved to the suburbs in the North end of the city when she was 10 (Eisenstein, 2006).

The 1950's (and 1960's) were a time of optimism and fear. The war was over and life was returning to normal. People were having children and industry and economies were improving greatly.  It was the age of televisions, music (e.g. Elvis, Beatles, etc.) and entertainment. It was also the time for civil rights (e.g. Martin Luther King), as well as technological advancements (e.g. Avril Arrows, nuclear programs, space programs, etc.) During this time people also had great fear. They feared the rising power of other countries and related it to the fear of the influence of Nazi Germany. Arms and technology races, nuclear threats and the fear of communism (led to Cold war, Korean war, McCarthyism, blacklisting, and anti-communism). In her memoir, these specified historical events aren't really mentioned or don't play a huge role (save for the Adolph Eichmann trial). The era can be see in her books in other ways however, such as the style of dress, clothing, hair and media (e.g. Westerns). It also comes out in different visual aspects of the book, such as the 1950's horror-movie-esque cover. The focus is mainly on her family and Jewish community, as well as her parent's past.

Adolph Eichmann Trial
Adolph Eichmann trial was one of the major historical events mentioned in the book, and the one that had a great impact on herself and her family.

I once spoke with a Sturmbannfuhrer who had been a member of the SS secret service in Budapest and who now served as a witness for the prosecution. he told me the following incident: "it was in October of 1944. We 5 SS men and Eichmann -  were sitting in the SS-Casino in Budapest. one of the younger officers, referring to the number of Jews to be annihilated asked, 'How many are there?'. Eichmann replied 'about five.' We all knew that meant five million people. then someone else said, somewhat incautiously, "What about after the war? Will people ask what happened to these millions? Eichmann just flicked his hand and said; 'One hundred dead are a catastrophe; one million dead are a statistic'. (Wiesenthal, 1999)

Adolf Eichmann had a leading role player in the deportation of Jewish people to death camps during the Holocaust (also in taking their property and possessions away, establishing ghettos, and using certain methods of extermination)(PBS,1997). He soon went to work in the section of Jewish affairs and emigration (he wanted to force the emigration of Jewish people to the middle east)(Nizkor Project 2011). He viewed this as a possible “Solution to the Jewish question” (Nizkor Project 2011). He established a center for Jewish affairs and emigration in Vienna (they were also later set up in Berlin and Prague)(Nizkor Project 2011). In 1939 he became the chief of Jewish affairs and emigration/evacuation in the Gestapo. In 1942 he organized the Wannsee conference which examined the “Final solution” (i.e. mass extermination of Jewish people).

After the war he escaped from an American internment camp and fled to Argentina, where he was able to live undetected under a false identity. 10 years later in 1960 he was captured by Mossad agents and was put on trial in Jerusalem for crimes against humanity and war crimes (Nizkor Project 2011). The trial was highly watched, highly publicized and rather controversial (in fact it was nicknamed as “the trial of the century”).  Eichmann pleaded not guilty and relied on the defense of simply “obeying orders” (he was also exceedingly arrogant). What also made the trial so significant was the use of witnesses. These 112 witnesses testified about the events of the Holocaust, what happened to them, the atrocities and Adolf Eichmann involvement in it all (it also brought 1600 documents detailing the persecution of European Jews throughout the war and Holocaust)(Shelton 2005). Eichmann was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging in 1962). This trial showed the brutality, atrocities and evil carried out by the Nazi's during world war two. It also gave the victims a louder voice. “This decision to rely on the victims' testimonies had an enormous symbolic significance in legitimizing their words and lifting the taboo on discussing the Holocaust from the point of view of the victims, both for legal and for historical purposes” (Shelton 2005).  This was the trial that first sparked Bernice Eisenstein interest in the Holocaust. It gave her her first insight into her parents tragic past and experiences (which she wasn't really getting from them).   




Present day –  In the present day section her father's death and funeral are examined . The present day sections takes place around a decade after the death of her father. Seeing her father's wedding ring sparks memories of her past, her parents and the Holocaust and the impact they have had on her life (how it has made her into the person she is today). It ends at her son's present day Bris Ceremony (Eisenstein, 2006).



American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE). Holocaust. Jewish Virtual Library
                 Retrieved November 2nd, 2011 from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org

Anne Frank Guide (2011). Holocaust Survivors in Canada. Retrieved November 18th, 2011 from http://www.annefrankguide.net/en-Ca/bronnenbank.asp?oid=271640

Cohen, S. (n.d.) Canadian Jewry: Canada’s multicultural society has shaped its Jewish community. Retrieved November 22nd, 2011, from www.myjewishlearning.com/history/Jewish_
 World_Today/Jews_Around_the_Globe/Canada.shtml

Eisenstein, B., (2006). I was a child of Holocaust Survivors. Toronto, On. McClelland & Stewart.

Hebrew University, (March, 28th, 2010). The Spielberg Jewish film archive – witness of Eichmann trial English. Retrieved November 28th, 2011, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X098U8_oU1Q

Israel W. & Wiesenthal S., (1999). The Holocaust – A Warning to the Murderers of Tomorrow. Encyclopedia of Genocide. California. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

2 comments:

GroupLit said...

This site (Holocaust Educations and Research Team) has a lot of information on the Holocaust as well as many different stories from Holocaust survivors. This gives us a more in depth look at the experiences Holocaust survivors had (some similar to her parents).


http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/survivor/

Victoria

1 December 2011 at 17:15
GroupLit said...

This article discusses the percentage of Holocaust survivors living in Canada, more specifically the greater Toronto area. According to the article, Holocaust survivors coming to Canada preferred Toronto (has 54.2% of Canada's Holocaust survivor population). It also discusses the Jewish Canadian community then and now (raises important issues and so on)

"The centrality of Jewish life, Jewish education, and Jewish organizations in Toronto made me, a survivor, feel welcome as a Jew immediately," he says. "Throughout the 56 years I have been here, I can honestly say that Toronto has been a city that because of its supportive Jewish community, has helped survivors of the Holocaust rebuild their shattered lives and, for this I can say, we are all truly grateful." -Michael Rosenberg

This is rather interesting as Bernice Eisenstein's parents chose Toronto to live as well.
http://www.jewishtoronto.com/page.aspx?id=70593

Victoria

1 December 2011 at 17:17

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