Learning about how to Be An Upstander

What is an Upstander? How can we become one? What does it take to be an Upstander? Well these answers are not in your history text books, or in Library books,the answers are in yourselves. An Upstander is someone who stands up and does something about a particular situation or for a person who is in a terrible situation. For example, once upon a time, in a land called Germany, a man by the name of Hitler, decided that one day, Jews and other people that he found to be "Inferior" were to be deported and to be wiped off the face of the Earth (in other words, to be killed and destroyed). Many people fled the country, but unfortunately, 6 million people were demolished because of this man. About 10, 000 people in various places around Western Europe decided to help these poor people, who were being demolished everywhere in Western Europe. These people hid families, and in some way shape or form, converted them to another religion. These people took on the risk of hiding these Jews, which if caught, could lead to horrifying consequences. But, these people are what we call "Upstanders". People that refused to step aside when the Nazis barged into towns, and rounding up Jews. These people were the Upstanders , that refused to join the Nazi party, even if it meant that they would have to face deadly consequences. These people refused to tell where Jews were hiding and they even helped getting their fellow hidden Jews to safety. Nowadays, you can hardly find Upstanders at all, unless if there is a good and legit reason for it. So, if you are asking on how to become an Upstander, the answer is clearly right in front of your face. An Upstander does not have to have certain instructions, they just have to know how to speak up when something is wrong. "Risking your life for another, is the best thing you can do for someone," says survivor Renee Kann Silver, who was a hidden child in the Village of Le-Chambon-Sur-Lingon. With society rampaging, as it is, we can learn how to help one another (even if it is not a Holocaust). We can still help those that are refugees from another country, fleeing because their country because of injustice and indecency, those that need our help, teach those who were poorly brought up around hatred and racial hatred and learn from those who survived events such as the Holocaust. Learn, teach and Live, BE an UPSTANDER.

Anne Frank + Schools Systems

Today, if we even consider about talking about Anne Frank in our school systems, it is briefly discussed. WHY?? Anne Frank and the 6 million others deserve so much more attention than just a day or two. They deserve a week, two weeks, or at least three weeks. The school systems should be taking on the subject of the Shoah and embracing it with integrity. How?? Well, the Shoah is something that everyone should have at least learned about in school (Or shall we put the commonly used word, "Holocaust"). Everyone should at least know who Anne Frank was and what kind of world she lived in. Why is the Holocaust taught only for a day in history classes? Why?? Is it too serious to even consider? Yes, millions of people lost their lives, but not only in the WWII battles, but in Gas Chambers and Ghettos as well. Millions of Jews and other forms of "Inferior" people lost their lives because of these Gas Chambers and Ghettos. Many of them starved to death, shot to death ( and then buried by the millions in mass graves), and tortured to death as well. Do we not even consider the damage that has been done to the world of humanity because of the Shoah? Why is Anti-Semetism and Racial Hatred still present? Why?? Is it because God did not create us all to have the same beliefs? That is the dumbest excuse that has ever crossed the line. Why do we hate people that may seem different to us? So, in class, when you are only studying the Shoah for a day, please, be an Upstander and speak for those who could not speak during the Shoah. Let your fellow classmates know what kind of atrocities the Nazis caused. Let your fellow classmates know that no matter what the cost, those six million people that perished, have a voice, and it may not always be theirs, it will be yours! You voice matters, and ONLY YOU, can help make the Shoah more important to learn in the School Systems. So, let your voice be heard and make it loud and clear.

What good does NOT REMEMBERING DO?

In this world, we tend to forget the Shoah. Why? Because it is consistant that we quote "have to". No, we do not have to at all! Take the USHMM, for an example, do you honestly think that they would just be the only ones to forget about the Shoah. No, they do not. It takes people like me and you to make the difference in this world. The Jews that died cannot do it, unless if you believe that they can be with you in spirit, like some people do. It is the duty of ourselves, that we cannot forget! In a way, we are all some what affected by the Shoah, whether we realize it or not. We all can have a connection to people like Petr Ginz, Moshe Flinker and others. What can we do to make sure that their memories stay alive? What can we do to make sure that their lives are not forgotten? What can we do, in order to preserve their memories? It is up to us, folks. We have a choice to make sure that these people that perished are still with us in memory or we can just forget them, which I would strongly not recomend. But, it is up to us.

Upstander Profile-Tomas Kulka

Name: Tomas Kulka

DOB: May 25^th, 1934

DOD (date of death): May 8^th, 1942

Age : 7

Tomas Kulka was born on May 25^th, 1934 in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia (which is now the Czech Republic). He was the only child born to Robert Kulka and Elsa Skutezka. On the 15^th of March in 1939 just before Tomas turned 5, the Germans occupied the cities of Bohemia and Moravia, which also included the city of Brno. After New Year’s Day in 1940, Tomas and his family were taken from their home, but Robert Kulka remained in Brno, in order to save his business. Later on, Tomas’s family was forced to sell their house. They were taken to the Terezin Ghetto on March 31^st, 1942. Unfortunately, on May the 9^th, 1942, he and his maternal grandmother were deported to Sobibor Death Camp in Lublin, Poland where they were both gassed upon their arrival. Tomas was only 7 years of age when he was put into a chamber full of people, where he would suffocate on Zyklon B Gas. He is now ash mixed in with dirt that people now walk on if they visit Sobibor. His parents, however, were deported to the Ossowa forced-labor camp for Jews. His parents died there.

Upstander Profile-Dawid Rubinowicz

Name: Dawid Rubinowicz

DOB: July 27,1927

DOD (date of death): September 22, 1942

Age: 15

Dawid Rubinowicz was born on July 27^th 1927 in Kielce, Poland. He was the older son of two sons born to Josek and Tauba Rubinowicz. Dawid also kept a diary that was unfortunately incomplete. Dawid’s recollects the horrors of everyday life under the Nazi Persecutions. He describes all these horrific events in the diary. He tells us about the Nazis shooting three Jews for absolutely no reason at all and then he tells us about the family that was shot to death and buried in their own backyard, because someone turned them in for hiding fur coats (a law stated that all Jews must hand in fur coats, anyone that does not, will receive the death penalty). Dawid’s diary was first published in Polish. Then, it was later translated into English. Dawid was only 12 when he began the diary and unfortunately, it ends in the middle of a sentence. Unfortunately, Dawid and his family were deported to Treblinka in 1942, where it is said that all of them perished in the gas chamber. Dawid was only 15 years of age when he perished.

Upstander Profile-Petr Ginz

Name: Petr Ginz

DOB: February 1st, 1928

DOD (date of death): September 28th, 1944

Age :16

Petr Ginz was born on February the 1^st, 1928 in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). He was extremely talented in art and in storytelling. Petr was not the only child though he had a little sister, Eva (now Chava Pressburger). He was the first Ginz child to be deported to the Terezin Ghetto, and his sister, Eva, followed in 1944. His diary that he wrote would be filled with all of his “plans”. These “plans” were really goals that he set for the future. Like for example, he wrote “Plans for December: make some more time for drawing, and learn Latin”. His “plans” came to a sudden halt in September of 1944, when he was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. It has been assumed that Petr was gassed upon his arrival to Auschwitz-Birkenau on September 28^th, 1944 at the age of 16.

So, what makes Petr Ginz so special? Although his life was abruptly cut short, his diary continues to inspire millions across the globe. As for his sister, she survived the Shoah and was the one that published the diary in Czech, Spanish and finally in English in 2007. If he were alive today, he would be eighty-two.

Upstander Profile-Edith Kann Roth

Name: Edith Kann Roth

DOB: July 28^th, 1933

DOD (date of death): May 8^th,2008

Age: 74

Unlike her sister, Renee, who was born Ruth at birth, Edith was born just Edith. Edith Kann was born on July 28^th, 1933 in Saarland. She was the baby of the family. Unlike Renee, who had red hair and green eyes, Edith was a Strawberry blonde and had blue eyes. Edith was delicate child, due to her health problems, which would later on progressively get worse than better. Edith would be very young when WWII broke out and her family would send her and her sister, Renee to Le-Chambon, where Edith would stay with a family that was not with Renee. But Edith would get to see Renee at times, and she did not feel the sense of loneliness that Renee felt. Like typical sisters, Edith and Renee fought occasionally and according to her sister, Renee, “Yes, Edith and I fought occasionally. Never anything serious. Although she was only 2 1/2 years younger than I somehow she seemed much younger. I was very protective of her. She was also very stubborn and I had learned to just walk away from arguments with her. If she said the earth was really square, there was no point in arguing with her!” Edith was 14 when she immigrated to the US with her family. Like Renee, she took the summer course at the Taylor Allderdice High School where she would improve on her English. Unlike Renee, who only did her senior year, Edith did all four years of Highschool, where she would be exposed to a whole different life-style. According to her sister, Renee, “Edith fitted in very quickly and comfortably. It was the first "permanent" setting for both of us.” For college, Edith went to a medical secretarial school and then in 1953, three years after her sister Renee got married, she married a man by the name of Paul Roth. They had four children and Edith then became a grandmother of two. She loved her grandchildren very much and like grandmothers around the globe, tries to indeed spoil their grandchildren as much as they possibly could. They divorced after 25 years of marriage. Unfortunately, Edith was a diabetic. According to her sister, Renee, “ Edith did not develop diabetes until her forties. She began to take insulin at that time. Eventually, she required dialysis.” In a letter to the author of this novel, Renee said that Edith’s last years would be spent in Orlando, FL. Her daughter, Miriam would take care of her, while Edith was placed in a nursing home. Edith unfortunately succumbed to her diabetes and health problems on May 8^th2008 at the age of 74.

Upstander Profile-Renee Kann Silver

Name : Renee Kann Silver

DOB: February 24, 1931

Age: 79

Born Ruth Kann (later Renee Kann ) (now Silver) was born in Saarland on February 24^th, 1931. She was older than her sister, Edith by 2 1/2 years. When Renee was barley 2 years old, the Nazis came to power. Her father was very worried about the fate of his family being Jewish. As soon as he possibly could, he got rid of his business and immigrated the family to France. To Renee, life seemed so confusing, since she was so young when the War broke out. Renee lived in these places during the war:

Saarland, Alsace, Sarreguemines, Longeville en Barrois, Gurs, Lyon-Switzerland, Back to France and the States. But, then she was sent to Le-Chambon-sur-Lingon (where Peter Feigl and Elisabeth Kaufmann were also sent). She was only 11 years old at this point. Unlike Peter Feigl’s parents who did not pay a fee, Renee’s parents had to pay a fee for her to stay in Le-

Chambon-sur-Lingon. Fortunately, Renee’s little sister, Edith was with her at this departure. Renee was given to a woman named Madame Dreyfus, but Renee did not live with Madame Dreyfus. Madame Dreyfus was responsible for getting Renee and her sister to Le-Chambon. When they arrived, a family was waiting there for Edith, but Renee, at the tender age of 11, was wondering why there was no one for her? Renee ended up spending the night with a woman by the name of Madame Deleage. She was responsible of finding hiding places for the Jewish refugee Children, such as Renee. Renee ended up on a farm with a family by the name of Fournier. The Fournier family had a son named Marcel. She was very dissatisfied with the farmers. She said,” The Fourniers had never seen a toothbrush before I came.” Later on some more girls came to stay with the Fourniers. She stated, “Even though they’re the same age as me-eleven-they never talk to me. And I’m not suppose to tell anyone who I am, so I don’t talk to them much, either. I’m still lonely.” Renee would see her sister every once in a while; Edith was placed with a different family. Renee would be placed with a different family. She would later be placed with a woman by the name of Mesdemoiselles (Misses) Royal. Renee would be a little more content there; after all, there would be other girls for her to play with. Soon, Renee and her family would safely immigrated to the USA When she was asked about her first impression of the US, she said, “My first impression of the States upon arriving in New York in July was that it was very unpleasantly hot. The humidity was terrible. I did not care for New York where we stayed with relatives for a few days. A cousin picked us up and drove us to Pittsburgh and I was enchanted by the beauty and vastness of the landscape on either side of the Pennsylvania Turnpike”. She was only 16 when she came to the US. She and her sister took a course during the summer at Taylor Allderdice High School to improve on their English. Renee would only do her senior year of Highschool, and then she would attend the University of Pittsburg, where she would major in foreign languages. By this time, she was fluent in English, German, and French, had five years of Latin and was beginning to learn Spanish. During college, she would meet the love of her life, Arthur Silver, who would be seven years older than her. They met in February of 1949 and married in November of 1950. She was only 19 when she got married, and he was 26. Soon, Renee became a teacher. She said to the author of this novel, “I taught in the New York City Public school system, languages at the high school level. I was also a grade advisor for 8 years and dealt particularly with the ESL students, I never taught at the university level. My husband taught in the Fine Arts Department of Long Island University C.W. Post College. He became chairman of the department.” The Silver’s settled in New York, where the Silver’s would welcome one son, in the year1956. Renee would soon be interviewed for a novel entitled, “Hidden on the Mountain: Children hidden during the Holocaust”. She would tell her story for the first time to the public, and then, by word of mouth, she would speak at groups, teaching them about the Holocaust. Renee unfortunately lost her sister, Edith in May of 2008 and Arthur in 2010. Today, Renee continues to speak at groups and spend time with her grandchildren, who bring her such joy. She never forgot Le-Chambon, she always thought of it as a “Difficult Adjustment” and went back to Le-Chambon for the reunion where she would meet Elisabeth Kaufmann Koenig. She is 79 years of age and continues to live in NY.