City of Perth Amboy 4/18/18
Testimony by Bernard and Henry Schanzer: Twin Brothers Who Survived the Holocaust *Photos by Paul W. Wang & Carolyn Maxwell
PERTH AMBOY – The City of Perth Amboy held its 7th Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. This year, Israel also celebrates its 70th Anniversary of independence.
The Israeli Flag was raised at Circle before the ceremony continued inside the Council Chambers.
At the beginning of the inside ceremony, Master of Ceremony Herschel Chomsky remarked, “This ceremony has been taken place in Perth Amboy since 2012.”
He then introduced Reverend Gregory Pabon from the Perth Amboy Police and Fire Chaplain Corps who gave the invocation.
Pabon said, “It is an honor and a privilege to do the invocation and celebrate this day.” He vowed to never let this happen again. “Let us pray for the survivors and their families. Remember the 6 million who died and never forget after all these years what happened.” He asked God, “Keep your covenant with Isaac, Jacob, and Abraham. Listen to what our speakers say today.”
Chomsky then introduced Mayor Wilda Diaz. But before doing so, he made a couple of comments. “I want to thank all that are here, but unfortunately there are things that are still happening today.” He then mentioned 3 places: New York, Washington D.C., and Perth Amboy. “In D.C. a Councilman blamed the bad weather on the Jews. In New York, a Councilwoman also blamed the Jewish for something that was a misfortune. In Perth Amboy, someone said something bad about Jewish people, but the Council spoke out against that person and I thank them.” He then mentioned Pro Wrestler Bruno Sammartino who passed away that day. “He was a survivor and he was from Italy.”
Mayor Diaz then came up and thanked all that were here and the speakers. “This is our 7th year (holding this ceremony). Each year, local governments and schools hold observances. This is a testimony to the survivors. We listen to sad and tragic stories. The two brothers here are blessed to make it to this day and we are happy to have them here. When we see injustice, we need to speak up for it can happen to us. It’s important for schools to teach this. I’m grateful for the educators for bringing the students here.” Then addressing the two brothers she said, “Don’t be surprised if you’re called to speak at assemblies.”
After the Mayor spoke, she called up Bernard and read what was on a Proclamation to be presented to both brothers. After reading this, she called up Henry to present him with the same Proclamation.
There was a candle lighting ceremony and a musical interlude by Mark Lieberman. Lieberman stated, “People still sang songs of hope, even when they were being transported in cattle cars.”
Both brothers then came up to speak, taking turns to tell about their story as young children. Bernard spoke first, “We’ve told our story to our children and our grandchildren. Now, we are telling it to you, our family. This started when we were 7 years old. We saw many crimes to humanity. My father was caught in August of 1942. 1116 people were caught in France. Of that number of people, only 30 survived. We could have been on that convoy. We survived because of the kindness through Gentiles and our mother.”
Henry then spoke, “Our mother was from Poland, and our dad from Czechoslovakia. Our mother’s mother raised 6 children. My father’s father was killed in World War I. My parents married in 1932. On May 10, 1940, 15 members of our extended family fled. We jumped out of vans. We saw people bombed, but between 1940 and 1942, we were able to take family vacations. Our father hired someone to teach us Hebrew. We didn’t like our teacher. We did bad things to him and our father wasn’t very happy. The French Government participated in aiding the Nazis. Our father could not believe the Germans could act this way, but my mother thought differently.”
Bernard spoke again, “In mid-August 1942, when we were 7 years old, our father took us to a bus depot where he was sending us to live with a doctor. Our father told us to behave like big boys and he was sobbing as he helped us onto the bus. That is the last time we saw our father. Our mom came to visit us, and the police were checking people’s papers after she was going back to the bus depot after visiting us. The police told her that she was wanted. When she got back home, the apartment she was living at was seized. Our father’s other relatives were not there. Some were deported and murdered. The doctor who was taking care of us said someone demanded more money from him for our care. We thought we were going home, but we were abandoned and betrayed. The police asked us about our mother and friends, but we didn’t know because we were very young. We didn’t know they were going to hold us hostage. We were sent to a Catholic orphanage for 3 months and across the street there was a church. We were taken there every day and twice on Sunday. We were told by 2 men that one day we would see our mother. Those men were sent by my mother and they worked for a Jewish Organization who rescued children. We went to live with a farmer who mistreated us. We developed worms and were malnourished and then sent to another orphanage.”
Henry then spoke, “My mother ran into someone that she knew who helped her. This person disregarded her own personal safety by doing this. This woman was able to get my mother a new identity. My mother then worked for a wealthy French Marquis. The Marquis then sent for my sister and another relative who came to work for him. The woman told everyone we were Protestants.”
Bernard then took over, “We lived with a woman named La Meme. We would always say Jewish prayers. La Meme told us to teach her the prayer, “and I will say it with you.” She took us in as if we were her own. Whatever she had, she shared with us.”
Henry then continued the story, “In August 1943, we went to the castle where my mother was working. We hugged our mother and sister when we saw them. We had to relocate after the police came to arrest the Marquis. We went back to the farm after that one-day visit. La Meme also took in our cousins. My mom then went to work in a nursing home and one day was confronted by an officer who noticed her accent. He questioned her about false documents but did not expose her. One day, we had to camp out in the woods with La Meme, so the Gestapo could not find us. We were reunited with our mother 2 years later. Our grandmother was in the ghetto. She said the last time she had any kind of post (communication) from our father was in March 1945. We were reunited with our mom in 1945. In 1946 we came to the USA. We led a normal life and went to City College in New York.”
Bernard then continued, “In 1968, I served in the service and got a Medical Degree. We were contacted by a man named Siegfried to see if we were related and he cried when we told him, “Yes.” We found out we were related through his deceased sister’s grandchildren.”
Henry who became a lawyer said, “We are grateful to live in this country with justice for all and we are grateful for this reception.”
There was a Q&A Session, and someone asked how they were able to get into the United States.
Bernard answered, “It was our mother’s brother who sponsored us. It is our mission to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Israel is the land of God. We keep you and Israel alive. We could not be here without Israel.”
Chomsky concluded with the words, “This was a very touching night. There’s always something new to learn.”
