Responses to Journals

Though I posted several responses on other peoples' journals, I thought that I would share my reflections here as well.

Beba Levanthal:

I find it very interesting that Beba was a part of an underground group. I had very little awareness of the prevalence of such groups before last week's presentation and prior to reading her story. It seems as though the will to survive, in Beba's case, was not merely a desire to continue to be alive, but to pursue a life. It is remarkable that despite the loss of her parents, her time spent in a ghetto and the dangers she faced every day (being shot at and threatened with the destruction of the ghetto) she was able to maintain such tenacity. It seems that she did not even want to give herself time to rest from the ordeal, but instead was driven to leave the hospital immediately. It is refreshing to hear the story of someone with such a strong desire to live and to keep moving. Beba strikes me as a brave and resilient woman.


Zenon Neumark:

"I did not pass my experiences on to my children like many other have. I have 2 daughters. They did not experience the terror themselves, as many other suvivors’ children have."

I find this a very interesting thought. I had never considered that people might perceive passing on their experiences as perhaps passing the terror onto their children. Through the reading I have been doing for my research paper, I have come across countless books and countless stories about the transmission of trauma in second generation Holocaust survivors. It is really interesting to hear the perspective of someone who has chosen not to share their story with their family, and the reasoning behind it. Most of the assumptions I've heard regarding why people do not pass along this information have to do with trying to forget that they ever lived through something so terrible. Zenon seems to be an incredibly intelligent and well-spoken individual; this must have been a really fascinating interview.



Sarah Lumer:

"I didn’t want to die, I couldn’t die. I kept thinking that Mother had borrowed money for the ticket to send me to Budapest. How could I die? She expected me to survive and I couldn’t disappoint her. She’d kill me."

This aside is refreshing in its humor and insight into the mind of a child. Though this story does not share some of the more horrific images that others do, the child's vision of the world is very clear and saddening. I of course remember what it was like to be a child, to think "if I lose my lunchbox my mom is going to kill me." But the juxtaposition of such childish thinking with the reality of Sarah faced--life-threatening illness, cold, hard labor, lack of medicine--brings the strangeness and cruelty of the treatment of children in concentration camps to light. It is very effective in communicating the experience of this childhood experience. The mindset of a child and the reality of the Holocaust are in such stark opposition that it is truly interesting and unique to read a story where the two are melded. Thank you, and thank you to Sarah, for sharing this story.

--Genevieve La Rocca