The Jewish Community of Bekescsaba by Deirdre Burke

Transcription

1 1 MONDAY OCTOBER 11,1999 AFTERNOON SESSION A, 14:00-15:30 The Jewish Community of Bekescsaba by Deirdre Burke When encountering the Holocaust one is faced with facts and figures which are beyond comprehension - how can we internalise the statistics concerning the killing of so many million innocent human beings - not for anything they did, but for the crime of having one or two Jewish grandparents? Today we are bombarded with materials relating to the Holocaust and may find it difficult to know where or how to start. This workshop seeks to explore the Holocaust by focusing upon one Jewish community in Hungary. There is nothing special about Bekescsaba, The focus could be on any one of thousands of small Jewish communities in towns and cities during the early twentieth century in any one of a number of countries in central and eastern Europe. The search begun unexpectedly several years ago when I was involved in an exchange programme with a Teacher Education College in Bekescsaba. This workshop brings together research on the three essential strands of any pedagogical encounter:-the perspective of teachers, feedback from students, and research on the subject. Holocaust education has been dominated by a concern to produce curriculum materials drawing on the testimony of survivors and historical research which accurately represents the Holocaust in order to challenge the threat posed by Holocaust denial. Provision of materials for use in the classroom is very important, but these materials need to be developed, not just with historians but also with educational researchers who have assessed the challenges facing the teacher and ways assessing the pupils response This challenge ahead is eloquently expressed by Langer's statement: Traditionally teachers open doors of possibility for their students. In this one instance, they are obliged to open doors of impossibility, an equally compelling but more arduous task, because the obstacles to gaining entrance are so many, the usual rewards so few. (Langer 1995, 7) In order to become 'cognisant of the subject's many complications' and to identify the 'obstacles' to learning,research into teacher and student perspectives was conducted. The first stage of research was a study with teachers, This involved group of educators studying at Yad Vashem s summer school, and consisted of two rounds of questionnaires. The results of this study on where the learner would be expected to struggle were used as a basis for the pupil study took place in four schools in Walsall, in England. A questionnaire was developed for use with 14 year olds after a pilot study in one of the schools. The final questionnaire was given to 92 pupils and this was followed up by a number of focus group interviews. The aim was to gather data from pupils concerning their perspectives. The challenges of the Holocaust to teacher and student are such that it is essential to build the curriculum taking this into account. This workshop will take a number of key concerns from the teacher and pupil study and also draw upon the research on Bekescsaba to suggest how the selection of curriculum materials can support study.

2 2 1. The scale and overwhelming nature of the Holocaust 1.1 research Findings: The expectation was that pupils would struggle intellectually due to the scale of the Holocaust. Limitations arising from cognitive and emotional development would make it difficult for pupils to cope with the numbers of people involved. Their limited geographical knowledge would make it hard to cope with locations; they would face a historical challenge in understanding the origins and influences of the Holocaust. It is clear that such study would stretch the pupils to limits. Responses from the pupil s questionnaire on 'what pupils found difficult' show that pupils were clearly struggling with the number of people killed and the way one nation were wiped out by another who were the perpetrators of this crime. A consideration of teaching approaches can explore ways of addressing problems of this scale so that the study offered to pupils takes their cognitive abilities into account Shawn's selective review of Holocaust curricula from 1971 to 1994 "indicates that while each offers a variety of worthwhile elements, few reflect consistent assumptions about the intellectual and affective nature of young adolescent learners..." (Shawn 1994,1)) 1.2 Approaching the Holocaust: There is no doubt that more people have encountered the Holocaust through Anne Frank than by any way. The world-wide popularity of Anne Frank, her diary, the exhibition, the film, proves to us that a focus upon an individual story enables people to make respond to another person's life. According to Miller, "Abstraction is memory's most ardent enemy. It kills because it encourages distance, and often indifference." (cited by Rosenfeld, 1993, 86 ) Such indifference is overcome by telling the stories of Jews in the Holocaust 'one by one'.. However, it is clear that the story of Anne Frank is a singular account of a very remarkable young girl with a universal appeal. Thus, it is important that pupils should be presented with a broader and more representative focus. Representation is problematical for it is recognised that the solution of focusing on a community is itself open to debate. But clearly by focusing upon a community pupils will be able to see the impact that the Holocaust had upon such a community - made up of people of all ages and from all walks of life. This will help them to 'translate statistics into people' as recommended by Parson and Totten The Case Study: The history of the Jewish community of Bekescsaba begins officially in 1817 with the inclusion of Jews in population statistics for Bekescsaba; the oldest grave in the Jewish cemetery dates from 1821 for Singer Yakab. The monument to cholera victims in the park shows that 11 Jews died in The small community of 13 grew very slowly until it reached a figure of around 1,000 when emancipation was granted to Jews in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1868.Revesz (1926) indicated that Jews needed permission from landlords to found communities, which prior to 1840 was difficult to obtain. The major obstacle seemed to be the German artisans in cities who feared competition from Jews. A new law in 1840 allowed Jews to found

3 3 communities, although the existence of letters requesting permission to settle from as late as 1858 suggest that Jewish residence was strictly controlled. The Encyclopedia Judaica suggested that Jewish settlers in 19th century Hungary came mainly from Moravia with some from Poland. Jewish traders would have been attracted to settlement within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, particularly in areas with trading opportunities. The population may also have been increased due to uncertainties in Galicia- Poland at the end of the eighteenth century, when the partition of Poland between Austria, Prussia and Russia forced many Jews to flee to freer and greener pastures. By 1926 the community in Bekescsaba had undergone a process of 'hungarianisation', Hungarian became the main language in schools and from 1910 onwards all sermons were in Hungarian. 2. Appreciating the Richness of Jewish Culture: 2.1 The problem: This workshop aims to explore aspects of Jewish life before the Final Solution to enable pupils to gain an appreciation of the richness and complexity of Jewish life. This is an answer to the criticism that there is too much emphasis on the death of the Jews d and not enough on the richness of the Jewish culture lost in the Sho'ah..'. A study of a Jewish community prior to the Sho'ah l reveals the richness and diversity of religious and cultural life. Inaccurate statements which depict all Jews as rich or religious or Zionist needed to be set in an accurate historical context. Historical research reveals the presence of four Jewish religious organisations by the beginning of the twentieth century: Orthodox, Neo-log, Status Quo and Hasidic. Further study provides insights into the various activities and concerns of the community. 2.2 The Case Study: Bekescsaba had a Jewish community of just over 2,000 in the 1920s. Communal organisations in the town reveal a high level of organisation, which sought to cover the various needs of the community. Documents from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century reveal the meticulous care by which the community recorded its activities and the democratic way in which decisions were made. A joint 'chevra kadisha' met the needs of all Jews for a proper burial until 1926 when the Orthodox community set up its own 'holy society' and established a separate Orthodox cemetery. Further concern for the needs of the poor can be seen in the 'Committee for poor primary school pupils', who on Jan 29th each year gave new clothes to four poor pupils. There were also groups who addressed the needs of women, the elderly and travellers. Education was an important part of the community shown by the founding of the first school in 1865; by 1884 a second school was opened by the Orthodox community - the success of which is shown by the 130 students in the cheder and yeshiva. In 1921 a Jewish High School was founded by Rabbi Silberfield, which lasted only one year. In 1932 a private Kindergarten and 'professional' school were established Bekescsaba, being the county town, supported a high level of cultural activity The Jewish printers, published a daily newspaper and many books. The high rate of literacy of the Jewish community expressed itself through an interest in its library. One of the main Jewish writers was Dr Jacob Silberfeld, who was the rabbi of the Status Quo community from 1912 to One of his main works was an essay

4 4 pamphlet entitled "From Moses to Jesus" which was written in response to a publication by a Lutheran priest asking "Moses or Jesus". 3. Historical engagement: 3.1 Research findings: The expectation from the teacher study was that pupils would regard events which happened before their parents were born, let alone before their own birth, as part of the distant past. This distance might make it difficult to get involved in such study, to see the study as important and to feel any sympathy for victims. l Pupil responses identified two ways in which they could overcome this historical distance. Firstly, they stated that the Holocaust was different from other history they had studied because of the photographic material available bringing the Holocaust close to them. I think when studying the Holocaust it brings a lot more emotion, because when you hear about civil wars and that you don't really think about the people suffering and being killed, but when you actually see photos of it, I think it means more to you. The second factor supporting pupil engagement with the Holocaust was meeting a survivor. Which helps pupils 'believe' that the Holocaust happened: One pupil reported: His talk was interesting because he had been there and experienced it so you knew that everything he was saying was true; if you read it from a book you're not sure if what you're reading is real." This living contact with the Holocaust clearly made the Holocaust a part of their lives in a way that other historical study did not and helped to bridge the historical gap by this opportunity to meet with survivors who lived through events and could 'tell it like it was.' Personal contact with survivors is clearly the strongest form of encounter but in many schools The Case Study: Insights can be gained from survivor testimony, which fills in some of the gaps and presents life in Bekescsaba. Firstly, there is little doubt that conditions were far better in Hungary even at the start of the 1940's than they had been for Jews in surrounding countries which encouraged many to flee as refugees to Hungary. Although Jewish rights were restricted their lives and property were still safeguarded. Also prior to the German occupation Jews were not required to wear the yellow badge, Whilst there were a few limits on business, for the most part Jews were able to mix in wider society. Also, there was no food rationing. Malcha Bernet's brother fled from the Sudetenland following the German occupation in 1938 and contacted Malcha from Bekescsaba with the words, "For Jews here it is so good". (This report was so encouraging that she left her home in Czech lands to travel to Bekescsaba, where her brother would find her some work. When she arrived in Bekescsaba in 1943 she could not believe how much food was available -. She felt that the Hungarian Jews were not aware of the problems of Jews in the rest of Europe, They seemed 'carefree and complacent' and they acted 'as if everything is going to be OK'.

5 5 4. Making Value Judgements: 4.1. Research Findings: Pupils are likely to find it difficult to put themselves in the shoes of victims, bystanders and perpetrators. Wiesel drew attention to the tendency to blame the victim for behaving as he did, Deakin adds an additional barrier that children from secular homes may face: I suspect there will always be difficulties in leading pupils to experience an empathetic understanding of the Holocaust: to the increasingly secular eyes of modern children the persistence of faith of many of the Jewish victims is strange in the extreme. (Deakin, 1994,33) There is also a psychological barrier to be overcome in the quest to see things from a stance that you judge to be wrong. This may also be complicated by the tendency to make snap judgements that do not adequately reflect the complexity of the situation. Hewson stated: 'In studying the holocaust, students are compelled to become aware of the plight of the victims as well as the motivations of the perpetrators, and to reflect upon these.' (Hewson,1982,13) 4.2 The Case Study: If we follow Wiesel's identification of the tendency to blame the victim for not resisting, we consider the state of knowledge at the time and opportunities for escape.. By 1944 Jews find Hungary faced severe limitations with regard to communication and transport, which meant a degree of isolation. Thus, it is possible that many Jews did not hear news from outside the town or outside Hungary. However, it is clear that information was presented to some members of the community in Bekescsaba. The members of the He-halutz underground, who set up the escape route through Bekescsaba, would have provided details of the deportations and death camps to key members of the community. Also the arrival of Polish refugees with such news meant that those Jews who wanted to listen found out while others preferred not to hear the news. Tsipora Gluck, recalled that the city was full of Polish Jews and that her father provided hospitality for one group and she remembers staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning listening to their own experiences and what they had heard. She added that most people did not believe them, she did and it was the reason that she left Bekescsaba for the 'safety' of Budapest. On the train journey she was able to see deportations of Jews taking place. She was eventually able to gain 'Irish' papers and hid with a Christian family until Budapest was liberated by the Red Army. 5. To show the complexity of experience within one community thus, to avoid the tendency to simplify and generalise 5.1 Research Findings: According to Braham the deportation of Jews from Bekescsaba and the surrounding district began on 25th June and was completed by 29th. The Jews from Bekescsaba were sent directly to Auschwitz, while the Jews from the surrounding areas were sent to Strasshof and had a higher survival rate. This statement does not accurately record what happened to the Jews who were deported from Bekescsaba. His work simplifies a situation which was very complex. This is a criticism that many have levelled at introductory courses on the Holocaust. There are many restrictions which prevent the

6 6 teacher from presenting a full and realistic account of the Holocaust. A literature review identified a range of challenges for teachers in undertaking teaching about the Holocaust. Primary amongst these was the concern with 'knowledge', this view is epitomised by this statement from Farrar: "Most History teachers lack sufficient knowledge about the Holocaust." (1983, 24) There is an expectation that a teacher will be an 'expert' on each subject taught in the classroom. The intention behind such requirement is that teachers will have studied at their own level much of the content of the curriculum they will teach. Fontana identified the need for teachers to understand the structure of subjects they teach and stated: "without a thorough specialist knowledge of the subject, the teacher can neither understand its structure nor help others achieve such an understanding." (1995,157) What about teachers of the Holocaust? In England and Wales all history teachers could be involved in teaching the Holocaust at Key Stage 3, and many Religious Education teachers include the Holocaust within work on Judaism or evil and suffering. Fox's survey of courses on the Holocaust at colleges and universities (UK) in 1989 indicated the scarcity of such provision. Thus, it is likely to be the case that the majority of history and RE teachers have completed little, if any, specific study in the area of the Holocaust. 5.2 The Case Study A case study approach makes it possible for teachers to gain a detailed knowledge about one community. This can either be undertaken as part of a community exchange programme, or through Inservice training or through the use of resource packs on communities. Such in-depth knowledge could be used to work from the particular to the general, so that pupils are aware of the complexities of the Holocaust experience despite having a general framework for understanding the wider picture. The importance of such specific knowledge can be seen when detailing deportations from Bekescsaba. June 30th - "The Superior SS and Police Commander in Budapest reports to Dr. Veesenmayer that the deportation of Jews from Zone IV has been completed. A total of 381,661 Jews have been deported from Zones I- IV." (Czech,D, 19,p.654) Survivor testimony makes it possible to fill in some of the gaps about the destinations of the deportees. i. The 'Strasshof' route was a sign of good faith by Eichmann as part of the Eichmann-Kasztner 'blood for trucks' deal, whereby 30,000 Hungarian Jews would be 'placed on ice' in the Reich while negotiations continued. In some areas there is clear evidence that the Strasshof connection was used to save prominent Jews, as in the case of Szeged. However, in Bekescsaba it seems that all Jews deported from the town expected to end up in Auschwitz. One survivor from the village of Totkomlos, who was ghettoised and deported from Bekescsaba, indicates that it was with surprise that they discovered their train was going to Austria- they were then transferred from the station in Vienna by trucks to Strasshof. (Yad Vashem Archive 2451 Powell, B.) They were then transferred to Gorerdorsolof and from there assigned to farms to work. This meant that there was plenty of food and the general conditions seemed good. Choice was given for families or groups to stay together when deportations started to Bergen Belsen in December Powell, his brothers, mother and two grandparents were placed in the 'Special treatment' area. They were not required to

7 7 work, but all suffered due to the lack of food. At the camp his mother found her husband, whom they had not seen since he had been taken to work camps in 1943, who was allowed to join them in the family camp. They were taken to Theresienstadt, where they were liberated by the Russians on the last day of the war 8th May They returned home to their village of Toklomos, near Bekescsaba. ii. Auschwitz: Braham estimated that between 12-14,000 Jews from Hungary arrived each day after a three to four day journey by train. Ten per cent of the total of 435,000 Hungarian Jews were selected for labour, either in Auschwitz or transported to other camps. The Hall of Names at Yad Vashem records deaths at Auschwitz, Dachau, Bergen Belsen and Mauthausen for Jews born in Bekescsaba. Debates about the bombing of Auschwitz or the railway tracks leading to Auschwitz apply directly to the Jews from Bekescsaba who were on their way to the camp when the US air reconnaissance photographed the camp on 26 th June. A sevenfold enlargement made it possible to see the main features of the camp - the railway track and platform, the gas chambers and crematorium and other traces of 'extermination activities'. Pincas Ha Kelliot stated that the Jews from Bekescsaba arrived in Auschwitz on the 29th June. The Auschwitz Chronicle recorded that 150 Jews, who were young and healthy, were given numbers: A A and kept as 'depot prisoners' on this day. Other 'depot prisoners', both male and female, were not registered whilst awaiting transfer to other labour or concentration camps. On July 14th a transport of 2,000 female Jews was transferred from Auschwitz II to Stutthoff. iii. Stutthoff: Fourteen women from Bekescsaba are included in the list of Hungarian Jewish Women in the Stutthof Concentration Camp, six of whom are included in the register of survivors in Budapest after the war. Stutthoff is listed as both a concentration and extermination camp in the Encylopedia of the Holocaust, consisting of several dozen subcamps. There was work in various plants and arms factories, spread over a wide area of northern Poland and the Kaliningrad district of the Soviet Union. Over 115,000 prisoners were sent to Stutthoff, with just over half dying in the camp due to hard labour or in the gas chambers. The camp was originally used for Polish and then Soviet and Baltic prisoners. Its use as a concentration camp for Jews came at a later stage. The mortality rate of Jews was high, with many of the women prisoners transported in 1944 dying in the 'death marches' during the winter of It is estimated that 'nearly all' the 50,000 Jews brought to the camp died there. Pollak from Bekescsaba was deported from Auschwitz to Stutthoff and was then put to work in the Broten labour camp where the inmates were to dig trenches. The conditions were harsh with frequent maltreatment of prisoners and summary executions. 6. The impact of the Holocaust: 6.1 Research Findings:

8 8 A further criticism about teaching the Holocaust is that it does not consider its on-going nature. In many curricula units teaching starts in the 1920s or 1930s concluding in This chronology means that pupils do not have the opportunity to consider post-holocaust issues for individual survivors, religious groups and governments. Responses study showed that pupils recognised that the pain of events for survivors were likely to continue. Many were frightened that pupils would question Paul about his experiences thus upsetting him. This shows their personal engagement with an actual survivor. Clearly the case community study will enable pupils to consider the impact of the Holocaust upon an actual community. 7.2 The Case Study: Encyclopedia Judaica records that of the 3,200 Jews deported from Bekescsaba in 1944 only 350 returned after the war (another sources cites 60 survivors from Auschwitz and 240 from labour camps)- the contemporary community reckon that only one whole family returned. By 1968 the community had shrunk to 151 persons, who used the Orthodox synagogue. By the early 1990's there was no official Jewish community, the Orthodox synagogue is now a warehouse and the 'leader' of the community in 1994 was a professed atheist who only speaks for the rest because his father had been the previous leader. Today Bekescsaba does not have a Jewish community but it has two Jewish cemeteries - Orthodox and Neolog - in which some people pay respects to friends and relatives. Recent renovations have made the 'progressive' graveyard visible, a split menorah stands in front of an exhortation to remember written in Hungarian and Hebrew - Look at this and see if there is pain as deep as mine. A ceremony took place in 1994 marking the fiftieth anniversary of the deportations. There were many religious and civic delegates from Bekescsaba representing the wider community. A representative from the Reformed Church asked for pardon on behalf of his church. This was confirmed by a Catholic priest who said that the letters written giving Jews a Catholic identity were not enough. The Mayor of the city stated that it was important that the history of the Jewish community in Bekescsaba was not lost and the Jews had an important role in the development of the city. The loss of the Jews should remain part of public awareness. Totten (1994) explored ways of involving pupils in the gathering and recording of testimony, providing an opportunity for closure. Dagan has stressed the importance of allowing pupils opportunities for active involvement so that they 'could not only release their tension, but use their experience as a source of creativity in which appreciation of life and moral values and formation of constructive attitudes for the future have been expressed in a quite remarkable way." (1987, 3) The goal of this study has been to consider how pupil perceptions of the Holocaust could be used to develop a case study approach to the Holocaust. Scholarly research and the teacher study identified a number of issues which this study attempted to address by reference to the case study approach. By bringing together the stands of pedagogical concern and insights from pupils who have studied the Holocaust it is possible to develop a curriculum which enables pupils to both learn about and from the Holocaust. Yehuda Bauer's consideration of the 'lessons of the Holocaust' provide support for a

9 consideration of pupil perspectives in developing the curriculum, as the lesson of the Holocaust: will change: each generation will look at the events from its own perspective and will derive different lessons. That of course means that it is not the Holocaust itself that is the lesson, but the lesson is in the eye of the beholder, depends on his or her circumstances and will be applicable in an environment that will hopefully differ from that of the Holocaust. (1994) 9

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