Other items in this column include:
*Numbers add up for Butterfly Project
*Political bytes
*Mazal tov! Mazal tov!
SAN DIEGO — In furtherance of the goals of the newly created San Diego Holocaust Survivor Coalition, the Jewish Federation of San Diego County has published a prototype book, sketching the lives of seven Holocaust Survivors who subsequently immigrated to San Diego County.
Among the first set of profiled Survivors are Ben Midler, Vera Lorell, Rose Schindler, Werner Dreyfuss, Mike and Manya Wallenfels, and Harry Rosen. The book also lists 33 memoirs written by Survivors who came to the greater San Diego area, some of whom since have died.
Darren Schwartz, the Federation’s Chief Program Officer, said the intent is to add stories to the prototype and eventually publish for general distribution a book that not only will deal with the Holocaust in Europe but which also will acquaint readers with what the Survivors did after immigrating to San Diego. “Every so often, we will reprint the book as it grows and grows,” he said. Survivors who would like to add their stories may start the process by filling out a form on the Federation’s website.
Sam Landau, the president of San Diego Generations of the Shoah, explains in a foreword: “You are about to be introduced to several Holocaust Survivors who have made San Diego their home. Each one has an incredible story to tell. This book hopes to capture their essence and stimulate further learning and discovery of who they are and the legacy they leave for the future.”
Ben Midler, born in 1938 in Bialystok, Poland, survived six concentration camps, initially worked for a dairy after moving to the United States, and later purchased an auto parts store. A resident of San Diego since 1984, he and his wife Esther have three daughters, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. “Never forget the Holocaust and speak up against bigotry and evil,” he advises. “Always speak up to make sure it won’t happen again.”
Vera Lorell was born in 1937 in Budapest, Hungary, where she was hidden in a school and later at a Red Cross facility. She and her husband, George Falus, immigrated to the U.S. in 1957, settling in Kansas City, and then Philadelphia. With her second husband, Robert Lorell, she moved to San Diego, where she enjoys working out at the Lawrence Family JCC and playing rummy and canasta. “I would like future generations to know the importance of being a good person. Focus on family and be a good Jew,” she advises. “My children tell me that because of me, they married Jewish husbands and raised Jewish children and are keeping the Jewish traditions.”
Rose Schindler, born in 1929 in Serenda, Czechoslovakia, survived Auschwitz and a work camp in Freudental, Germany. After the war, she immigrated to England with 732 other orphans under a program sponsored by Sir Moses Montefiore. With her late husband Max, she immigrated to the U.S in 1951, setting in San Diego five years later. They had four children and nine grandchildren. Currently, Schindler is president of the New Life Club. “If you lose hope, you don’t have anything,” she says. “If you didn’t have hope, you did not survive. We are all entitled to our own belief and nobody should take them away from us. I hope this world will be a good world for our future.”
Werener Dreifuss, born in 1931 in Frankfurt, Germany, left that country when he was eight years old, living in an orphanage for two years. As a child he was sent to Los Angeles with 100 other orphans. Eventually he moved to Chula Vista with foster parents who were cattle ranchers. After college and military service, he became a land developer and owner of a discount store. His wife Norma and he, married for 64 years, have four children, eight grandchildren, and one great granddaughter. “Be honest and be yourself,” he advises.
Mike and Manya Wallenfels, respectively born in 1934 in Budapest and in 1936 in Buszk, Poland, escaped Hungary during its 1956 Revolution, settling first in Buffalo and later moving to San Diego, where he worked as a mechanical engineer and developed five innovations for which he obtained patents. Manya, who had played competitive tennis and basketball in Hungary, took jobs in the clothing industry and real estate. His advice: “Freedom is a precious thing, and I think we should do everything possible to maintain it.” Her advice: “Let the world know what happened to the Jewish people because there are a lot of Holocaust deniers and we are the living proof and that’s why I take responsibility to go out and talk to young children, let them know what happened, and ask them to make sure that in the future those atrocities will not happen again — not only to the Jewish people, but all mankind.”
Harry Rosen, born in 1923 in Helberstadt, Germany, immigrated in 1935 to Belgium, and later to British Mandatory Palestine. He and his wife of 65 years, Fanny, a survivor from Romania, immigrated to New York in 1961, eventually settling in San Diego. He worked as an airplane mechanic. They had two children. His advice: “Don’t dwell on people who let you down, cherish those who lift you up.”
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Numbers add up for Butterfly Project
The Butterfly Project, which seeks to exhibit 1.5 million ceramic butterflies around the world, corresponding with the number of children slain in the Holocaust, so far has produced 238,685 butterflies, each of them individually hand painted by students and adults who hear the organization’s presentations about the Shoah. Over “Giving Tuesday,” the Butterfly Project posted another number, according to its director Cheryl Rattner Price. It raised $21,247 — $10,000 of that in a matching grant from an individual donor.
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Political bytes
*Father Joe Carroll, longtime advocate for the homeless via St. Vincent de Paul Village, has endorsed San Diego City Councilwoman Barbara Bry for mayor of San Diego.
*Former San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio, now running in the 50th Congressional District, indicated today he will be a loyal ally of President Trump. He issued this statement: “Instead of focusing on solving important problems that actually matter to the American people, Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats are wasting all their time and energy on a pointless political stunt. Nancy Pelosi knows this absurd impeachment is going to go absolutely nowhere, but she’s content to turning the People’s House into an arm of the Democrats’ campaign to win back the White House. If anyone is abusing power, it is Speaker Pelosi and the House Democrats — and I urge the American People to hold them accountable and return Congress’ focus to the issues that matter to working families by giving the majority back to House Republicans in this next election.”
*Former Republican Congressman Darrell Issa has suggested it might be appropriate for President Trump to commute the sentence of Congressman Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, if U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Whelan orders Hunter to prison during his March 17 sentencing for misappropriation of campaign funds. According to reporter Charles T. Clark, Issa told the San Diego Union-Tribune that commutation of the sentence could “balance the public good. Are we better off spending $60,000 a year to put him behind bars or are we better off with him doing community service and going on with his life with the likelihood of him committing a crime in the future pretty low?” Two of Issa’s opponents in the 50th Congressional District race– Republican Carl DeMaio and Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar disagreed, telling reporter Clark that Hunter should be held accountable for his crimes.
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Mazal tov! Mazal tov!
*Sarah Fine, who teaches educators at UC San Diego and High Tech High School, will share a $100,000 Grawemeyer Award for Education with Harvard Prof. Jal Mehta. San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Diane Clark reported that Fine’s and Mehta’s book, In Search of Deeper Learning: The quest to Remake the American High School” involved the study of innovative learning strategies at various schools, with over 300 teachers, administrators, parents and students interviewed in the process. Fine is married to Micah Perlin, a Democrat running for the 78th Assembly District seat that Todd Gloria is leaving to run for mayor of San Diego.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com