Grapevine September 15, 2024: The magic of DNA

Although the California-based initiative of uniting or reuniting Holocaust survivors with their relatives is indeed noble, it’s a little late in the day, and one can’t help thinking how much heartbreak, misery and loneliness could have been avoided had it been launched fifty years ago instead of two years ago. But to be honest, what makes it possible today, was not available way back then.

Leading genealogists Jennifer Mendelsohn and Adina Newman were well aware that DNA testing had already helped many Holocaust survivors find relatives – some of whom they knew about but were not aware that they were still living, and others that they didn’t about, but who were mutually happy to find each other.

The Holocaust Reunion Project, which combines DNA testing and expert genealogical research to reunite Holocaust survivors and their children with living relatives, revives family histories that were lost in the Nazi policy of genocide.

Since the launch of the pilot program in late 2022, the founders have overseen the distribution of over 1,300 free DNA tests to Holocaust survivors and their children worldwide, enabling scores of meaningful connections. The miracle of DNA testing has been able to identify previously unknown relatives for survivors who believed they were all alone, making instant connections between families kept apart by severed lines of communication and the chaos of war. 

Genealogical research can also illuminate lost family history; sometimes, something as simple as viewing a marriage record for those who perished can bring solace to survivors and their families, say Mendelsohn and Newman. The two note that the project also serves as the central genealogical resource for Holocaust-related Jewish cases of unknown parentage. The genealogists have a proven track record of solving complex cases involving hidden children and concealed Jewish identity.

The two women came to the conclusion that the best way to facilitate more such reunions would be to provide free DNA testing. After the two-year trial run, their independent, nonprofit organization was formally launched last month, and is supported by Players Philanthropy Fund.

Among the success stories is one of a woman who as a toddler was smuggled out of the Bialystok Ghetto and had for years been searching for her true identity. Another was tracking down the biological family of two elderly Polish women who had been separately abandoned as infants and subsequently adopted. The DNA tests enabled each to know that she was an Ashkenazi Jew and had a sister.

In another case, DNA testing made it possible to identify the biological father of a child survivor of Theresienstadt.

The stories abound, and now it is possible for people who believed themselves to be the sole survivors of their families to discover that they were mistaken and that they actually have not one or two relatives, but a whole tribe.

To learn more and to find out how to apply for a free DNA test, visit holocaustreunions.org.

Czestochwa 

■ STILL ON the subject of the Holocaust in another context, visitors to Poland this coming week may be interested in accepting the invitation of the Czestochwa Mayor Krzysztof Matyjaszczyk and the chairperson of the Czestochowa branch of The Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland (TSKZ) Izabela Sobańska-Klekowska to attend a service in the Jewish cemetery to mark the 82nd anniversary of the liquidation of the Czestochowa Ghetto. The commemoration will take place on September 20 at 11 a.m. and will be followed at 1 p.m. with a memorial ceremony at Samuel Willenberg Square, where a tribute will also be paid to the 40,000 Jews of Czestochowa who were deported to the Treblinka death camp.

Samuel Willenberg was a Holocaust survivor, writer and artist who was one of the leaders of the Treblinka Revolt, and who later joined the Polish resistance fighters. After the war, he came to Israel and lived in Udim and Tel Aviv. He specialized in bronze sculptures in which he created monuments to people whom he had known in Treblinka. Examples of his work can be seen in the garden of the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.

Willenberg died in Israel in February 2016 at age 93, and his funeral in Udim was attended by then-president Reuven Rivlin who eulogized him. In his lifetime, the Czestochowa native was honored several times by Polish governments. He also designed the Czestochowa memorial to the Jewish victims of Nazism.

The liquidation of the Larger Ghetto of Czestochowa took place between September 21 and October 7, 1942. The Germans dug two huge pits in plots of land at 20 Kawia Street, where they buried some 2,000 Jews who had been murdered in the ghetto houses and hospitals, as well as during the various roundups of Jews.

These two mass graves bear no identifying signs, and few people are aware of what lies beneath the green lawns behind the metal fence.

Alon Goldman, vice president of the World Association of Czestochowa Jews and their descendants, has repeatedly asked a succession of Czestochowa mayors to put up an explanatory plaque with a simple text, but so far there has been no progress in this direction.

Ezer Mizion

■ ONE IS never too old to realize a dream. Army veterans often want to return to the scene of battle where they fought on the winning side, and also to remember fallen comrades.

Shalom Zihan, who fought in the War of Independence, and who is also a Moroccan-born Holocaust survivor, dreamt of one day returning to Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem where his unit had scored a victory over the courageous and well-trained Jordanian troops, the war that unified Jerusalem being closer to his heart. As the years passed, he dreamt increasingly about once more returning to Ammunition Hill, but given his advancing age and his poor medical condition, he doubted if his dream would ever come true.

But Ezer Mizion, which is best known for testing for bone marrow transplants, performs a whole bunch of other miracles, including helping senior citizens to realize their dreams.

The Israeli health support organization also runs a Make a Wish club, and that’s how Zihan’s wish came to the organization’s attention. as well as that of the Health Ministry, and a decision was made to provide an ambulance to transport him from the retirement home where he resides in Bnei Brak to Ammunition Hill for a very emotional visit. Ezer Mizion coordinator Ora Levy-Abecasis made sure that the former paratrooper was equipped with the correct military beret and paratrooper wings, and also organized that a group of soldiers would be on hand to greet and salute him. To say that he was thrilled is an understatement.

He wore the beret with pride, was embraced by the young soldiers and everyone sang “Jerusalem of Gold” together.

“I fought for the benefit of my people,” said Zihan. “I fought for the whole of the Jewish People.”

■ SINCE THE start of the current war, the air waves have been full of the stories of hostages, victims of the Hamas massacre and of fallen soldiers as told by first degree relatives and by close friends. The nature and frequency of such stories prompted veteran broadcaster Rina Matzliach to realize that we don’t give enough positive thought to our loved ones and dear friends until they are dead. 

We simply take their good qualities for granted, and only when they die – especially under the circumstances of war and other forms of violence – do we talk about their praiseworthy qualities. Perhaps we should take time out once a week to think about what we love most in the people we love, and reflect on all the things we’re going to miss if they disappear from our lives. 

In her recently launched podcast, Matzliach gets well-known personalities such as Dan Meridor and Haim Ramon to talk about deceased parents and grandparents – and because she’s a good listener and is genuinely interested to hear what her interviewees are saying, they come out with things that have been stored in their subconscious for years. Most public figures are seen in the context of their public persona, and not their private lives. Matzliach gets her listeners to look at them in a different light, and then perhaps to also look a little differently at their loved ones.

■ HONORS KEEP coming the way of Richard H. Schwartz, PhD, who was recently honored on the occasion of his 90th birthday, and honored again this month at a Zoom event in recognition of his 50 years of activism in promoting vegetarianism, veganism, animal rights, and environmental sustainability by Jewish Veg and Jewish Initiative for Animals, two organizations dedicated to helping make Jewish institutions and individuals more plant-based oriented.

Schwartz was president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America for many years and is now president emeritus of the organization, which changed its name to Jewish Veg. He is the author of many books, including Judaism and Vegetarianism (three editions), Judaism and Global Survival (three editions, including the recently published 20th-anniversary edition), Vegan Revolution: Saving Our World, Revitalizing Judaism, Who Stole My Religion: Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish Values To Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet, and Restoring and Transforming the Ancient Jewish New Year For Animals: An Idea Whose Time Has Come. 

He also has over 300 related articles at Jewish-Vegan.org. He frequently contributes letters and occasionally articles to The Jerusalem Post and the Jewish Report, gives talks and has been interviewed many times about the issues in his books.

Schwartz argues that (1) veganism is the diet most consistent with Jewish teachings on protecting our health, treating animals with compassion, protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, reducing hunger, and pursuing peace, (2) shifts to veganism are essential to avert a climate catastrophe, and (3) it is much easier to be a vegetarian or a vegan today since there are many plant-based substitutes with appearances, textures, and tastes very similar to meat and other animal product

The Zoom event is part of an effort by the two Jewish groups to restore the ancient Jewish New Year for animals and to transform it from its initial purpose of tithing animals for sacrifices into a day devoted to increasing awareness of Jewish teachings on compassion for animals and how far current realities for animals are from these teachings.

After a brief ceremony honoring Schwartz and his response, the event featured a lecture by Prof. Beth Berkowitz, Ph.D., a professor of Jewish Studies at Barnard College in New York City, on “Making Animals a Part of the Jewish Family.”

At the event, the two Jewish sponsoring groups announced that they were merging into a new group called the Jewish Center for Food Ethics.

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