By Sandra Scheller
SAN DIEGO — Members of the New Life Holocaust Survivor group in San Diego gathered with Jonny Daniels, a London-born Israeli activist, to dedicate to their loved ones a letter in a Torah undergoing restoration. The survivors expressed that the letters they inscribed were dedicated to their parents and family members who perished in the Holocaust.
Daniels explained that the condition of the Torah scroll was dire, as a family had used half of it over the past 70 years as rags and even as insoles for shoes. He received the Torah and rescued it. Holocaust survivors from around the world inscribe it letter by letter. Once completed, Daniels intends to donate the scroll to the Knesset in a ceremony that will be attended by Holocaust survivors from around the world.
Among Survivors in San Diego County inscribing the Torah were Lou Pechi, Sophie Rubenstein, Edith Palkowitz, Edith Stein, Mike and Manya Wallenfels, Basha Kaufman, Gerald Szames, Vera Falus Lorrell, and Adele Beim. This gathering was bittersweet, as past president Vera Falus Lorrell will be moving to Philadelphia to be with her family.
The survivors met at Chuck Spielman’s Only Yesterday, a privately-held classic car and World War II memorabilia museum. Daniels picked letters in the Torah corresponding to one of each Survivor’s initials to fill in with the Survivor’s hand on his writing arm.
On a personal note: I will miss Vera’s beautiful smile and warm heart. Her support for Remember Us The Holocaust exhibit has been deeply appreciated, as she generously shared her own Holocaust story.
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Sandra Scheller is the curator of RUTH: Remember Us The Holocaust, which has toured San Diego County libraries. The exhibit is scheduled to open in January for year-long viewing at the La Jolla Library.