Other items in this column include:
* JFS Rapid Response Network moves from county facility to a state facility
*Political bytes
*Coming our way
*Recommended reading
CHULA VISTA, California – A span of 31 years separates the late Max Weinstock’s birth from that of Ursula Israelski, but both were profoundly affected by the Holocaust. They are among the featured South Bay residents, living and dead, whose lives are celebrated at the year-long “Project RUTH: Remember Us The Holocaust” exhibit now on display at Chula Vista’s main library, 365 F. Street, Chula Vista.
Short sketches of the honorees were included in a booklet published for the Jan. 12 opening of the exhibit, which draws its name from one of the honorees, the late Ruth Goldshmiedova Sax. Sax’s daughter, Sandy Scheller, the exhibit’s originator and curator, also has arranged with the Chula Vista Heritage Museum for the honorees’ biographies to be posted on line.
Weinstock (1905-1973) was well known on both sides of the US-Mexico border as an owner of a chain of furniture stores and as a founder both of Temple Beth Sholom (before it was spelled “Beth Shalom” ) in Chula Vista, and of the Centro Social Israelita in Tijuana. He immigrated from Poland to Mexico in 1922, remaining there through World War II, during which his mother, Miriam, disappeared and was presumed murdered in the Holocaust.
According to the website of the Chula Vista Heritage Museum, which is lodged in the library, Weinstock’s sister, “Natalie and her Polish husband Stephan lived with and protected his mother Miriam in Stephan’s home in Warsaw. Leah [his daughter] recalls hearing a story that the Nazi’s efforts to round up Jews in hiding included circulating flyers advertising ships that provided safe passage to the United States. Although Natalie and Stephan warned Miriam that these flyers were a hoax and a Nazi scheme to round up Jews, they believed that Miriam fell prey to one such flyer. One day when they returned home from an outing, Miriam was gone – never to be heard from again. Natalie and Stephan searched frantically to no avail. They surmised that she may have pursued the false advertisement and therefore became a victim of the holocaust having been discovered and sent to a camp where she perished. Max was traumatized by this. He refused to speak about it and could not even bear to see pictures of his mother which were all hidden away in his home. Leah [his daughter] sensed that he may have held himself partially responsible for not saving her from her death in a concentration camp. This, however, was never verbally verified.”
Ursula Israelski was born in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. She and her mother fled to Belgium in 1940, but her mother was captured and sent to Auschwitz, from which she later physically, but not psychologically, survived. Just five years old when her mother was taken from her, Israelski lived in private homes from 1942 through 1955. Her “rescuers” were sexual abusers, according to Israelski’s biography on line.
Eventually, Israelski learned ballet, moved to Germany, was married there, and immigrated with her husband to Oregon. After their divorce, she found her way to Chula Vista, where today she is a volunteer in the library. Her advice to all is “Don’t be a perpetrator. Don’t be a victim. And don’t be a bystander.”
The late Ruth Goldshmiedova Sax was born in 1928, six years after her husband Kurt Sax. A native of what then was Czechoslovakia, she was an only child, by her own account “very spoiled.” In 1939, Nazis forced their way into her home and took whatever they wanted, destroying much in the process. Goldshmiedova would endure life in three concentration camps, including Auschwitz before she was liberated.
Kurt Sax, born in 1922, was able to leave Austria in 1939 and immigrated to the United States. When he was 13 and Ruth was 6, they had met, being distant cousins. As told on the website, Kurt heard that Ruth had survived the war and began to write to her. They exchanged some 1,500 letters before he was able to bring her to the United States and to marry her.
Today, both Kurt and Ruth are gone, Kurt having died in 2012 and Ruth in 2018. However, their daughter, Sandra Scheller, has made it her mission to tell their stories, as expressed in this exhibition and in the title of the book on which she and her mother collaborated: Try to Remember, Never Forget.
Ruth Goldshmiedova Sax’s watch phrase was “Never give up and never give in.”
These are just four of the stories highlighted in the Project Ruth: Remember Us The Holocaust exhibit. Others are those of Salomon Schlosser, twin brothers Bela and Daniel Mark, Mark Fishauf, Paul Schauder, Lilly Hecht, Sid Wapner, and Ona Yufe.
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JFS Rapid Response Network moves from county facility to a state facility
Jewish Family Service of San Diego is moving its shelter for migrant families from downtown San Diego to a state-owned site in Linda Vista. For security reasons, it has not announced the exact address of either facility. The change of address was necessitated when JFS’s lease with the County of San Diego expired on the downtown site.
Sen. Toni Atkins, president pro tempore of the State Senate, commented, “As a state that welcomes migrant families into our communities, we have an absolute responsibility to protect the health and safety of those who seek asylum and reside or travel within our borders. I am so grateful to Jewish Family Service and other partners in the San Diego Rapid Response Network that continue to step up, and am glad that the state can help provide shelter for our migrant families. We embrace our responsibility and will continue to be part of the solution.”
Michael Hopkins, CEO of Jewish Family Service, commented, “As we transition into the new space, we first need to thank the many partners, supporters and volunteers who have helped us provide refuge to thousands of asylum-seeking families over the last year. Thank you to the State of California and Governor Gavin Newsom, the County of San Diego and Supervisors Nathan Fletcher and Greg Cox, the San Diego Rapid Response Network, and UC San Diego.”
Supervisor Cox commented, “I was proud to partner with Jewish Family Service, Gov. Newsom, state and federal representatives, and many others to address an ongoing humanitarian crisis at our border by opening up a temporary shelter for asylum seekers. That shelter not only provided a lifeline to families and children, but protected the public’s health and safety in San Diego. I look forward to this new location and our continuing partnership to provide critical services in our region”
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Political bytes
Terra Lawson-Remer, running in the 3rd County Supervisorial District against incumbent Kristin Gaspar, says if elected she’ll “repair our roads, invest in public transit, and develop communities where people can live closer to work. I will fight against sprawl development, so our roads are not clogged with long commutes. I will stand up for more affordable homes near where people work and go to school and shop, so there is less need to drive long distances on a daily basis. And I will invest in more rapid and efficient transit, to connect work centers with housing communities.”
Congresswoman Susan Davis in her January newsletter explains her vote to restrict the presidents ability to wage war with Iran unless Congress declares war or an attack against the United States is imminent. “There is no doubt that Suleimani was responsible for countless deaths and violence, what is not clear is the Trump Administration’s justification and the strategy for the aftermath of this dangerous escalation,” Davis wrote. “When I voted against the Iraq War, I learned an important lesson we must ask every administration that seeks to use military force: how will it manage the consequences of its actions even if those actions can be justified. Has this administration done that? The answer is no. That’s why I joined my colleagues in voting for the resolution clarifying only Congress can declare war.” (See her congressional speech on video by clicking here).
San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez’s campaign says that if she is elected to the 53rd Congressional District, “as the daughter of immigrants, she’ll protect DREAMers and fight Trump’s cruel deportations. As our first LGBTQ Latina City Council President, we know Georgette will stand up to Trump’s bigoted agenda. And as a lifelong San Diego resident, born and raised in Barrio Logan, we know Georgette understands the struggles that working families in our community face.”
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Coming our way
*Temple Emanu-El at 6299 Capri Drive will conduct a Shabbat service dedicated to the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., at 6 p.m., Friday, Jan. 17, with participation by the Martin Luther King Community Choir. An oneg will follow.
*The Jewish Women’s Foundation of San Diego sponsors a discussion about women’s reproductive health and “how do we nurture an environment of acceptance and empathy in our community,” at 9:30 a.m. to 1130 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 12, at Congregation Beth El, 8660 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. Panelists include Rabbi Devorah Marcus of Temple Emanu-El; Laurie R. Greenberg, MD, of the IGO Medical Group; Alison Reminick, MD, of UC San Diego, Amy Corton of Planned Parenthood, and moderator Emily Einhorn, a community volunteer and philanthropist.
*Derek Loewy, PhD, a clinical psychologist who is a sleep disorder specialist at Scripps Clinic, will be the featured speaker at a 10 a.m. brunch, Sunday, Feb. 23, sponsored by the Beth Israel Men’s Club at 9001 Towne Centre Drive. “In addition to caffeine and stress, a number of culprits may be to blame for your sleepless nights—and some of them may surprise you,” he says. “Anything from exercising too late to common medications may be feeding into your insomnia.” Ticket $10. RSVP via this website.
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Recommended reading
* Adinah Miller, program director of Tivnu, Building Justice in Portland, Oregon, has an article in The Jwish Educator in which she discusses making Passover seders relevant to the social justice concerns of teenagers and college students.
*Alaska Airlines tells the story of its role in the highly secret evacuation of Yemenite Jews to Israel in 1949.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com