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* Coming our way
* Recommended reading
CHULA VISTA, California — An eerie moment during the opening of an exhibit on Holocaust survivors who settled in the South Bay occurred when organizer Sandy Scheller, giving a speech at the podium, took a phone call, which she pretended was from her late mother, Ruth Sax, whose first name serves as an acronym for the exhibit’s title: “Project Ruth: Remember Us The Holocaust.”
After reciting to her mother the names of fellow Holocaust survivors, elected officials, and rabbis who were present, she quipped on Sunday, Jan. 12, into the phone, “I will, mom. I’ll let everyone know to eat something.”
Of course, Ruth Sax would worry about that, like many Jewish mothers of her generation, she would have wanted to make sure that no one went hungry, not like she and other Survivors did during the Holocaust.
Ruth needn’t have worried, there were plenty of bagels, cream cheese, lox, egg salad, tuna salad, pasta, cookies, cakes and beverages to go around – and it was all kosher too, under the supervision of Rabbi Mendy Begun of Chabad of Chula Vista, who served as master of ceremonies along with Stephen Smith, the executive director of the Shoah Foundation, which is based in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California.
The venue for the occasion was Chula Vista’s main library at 365 F. Street, where a year-long exhibit will acquaint visitors with the history of the Holocaust through the eyes and mementos of survivors, some living, some now dead, who settled in Chula Vista and environs. In addition to Ruth Sax and her late husband Kurt Sax, they include Ursula Israelski, Salomón Schlosser, brothers Bela and Daniel Mark, Mark Fishauf, Paul Schauder, Lilly Hecht, Renee Vogel Haber, Sid Wapner, Max Weinstock, and Ona Yufe.
Story boards citing aspects of their experiences are displayed in the library’s roomy exhibit area, adjacent to the reception area in which several hundred people enjoyed a sit-down brunch hosted by Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas.
Accordionist Mark Danisovszky, who is an accompanist at Temple Solel in Encinitas, softly played Jewish themed music during the bruncheon period leading up to the program, which began with a symbolic lighting of candles by Chabad of Las Vegas Rabbi Levi Harlig in acknowledgment of the survivors.
The Shoah Foundation’s Stephen Smith said even though the Holocaust was a time of loss and trauma, today was a day for gratitude to the survivors who have shared their stories and who have “warned us what we (humanity) is capable of – to assure we don’t go down that path again.”
Today, he warned, “we see the same kind of anti-Semitism” as occurred during the Nazi period, and “we have to stand up for each other.”
A reflection of this period of anti-Semitism was that uniformed members of the Chula Vista police department circulated both inside and outside the event hall.
The exhibit items found in the various displays “are not just objects,” Smith said. “These are lives bequeathed to us. Our duty is to keep them in perpetuity.”
Mayor Salas said the exhibit is in keeping with the spirit of Chula Vista, which is “welcoming to all people.” She said the city has opened its heart to many immigrants, “including my grandparents.” She noted that while the exhibit focuses on the Holocaust, it also covers the Armenian genocide. In particular, it tells the story of Therese Serapian, who survived the genocide and later became the grandmother of San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan, who was one of the dignitaries present.
Others dignitaries in attendance included San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox, El Cajon City Councilman Gary Kendrick, Temple Beth Shalom Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel, and two South Bay residents who spoke briefly during the program, survivor Ursula Israelski, and Ceasar Castro, who spoke in behalf of the South Bay Historical Society and the Friends of the Chula Vista Heritage Museum.
Castro noted that each year the library offers an exhibit on a different aspect of Chula Vista history, with the centennial of the Chula Vista fire department to be featured in 2021, and the Filipino-American community of the South Bay in 2022.
The exhibit officially was opened with a ceremonial ribbon cutting by Mayor Salas in which she was joined by the Survivors, their families, dignitaries, and organizers of the event.
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Coming our way
*Congregants of Tifereth Israel Synagogue will continue their monthly pub crawl with a visit to Duck Foot Brewery, 8920 Kenamar Drive #210, San Diego, where they will sample some beer and discuss Torah as part of the “Torah on Tap” program at 7 p.m., Monday, Jan. 13.
*Rabbi Mendy Begun of Chabad of Chula Vista will lead an excursion to Chabad headquarters in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, with a Shabbaton there starting on Friday, May 15 and ending Sunday, May 17. Lodging and meals over the weekend cost $279 for adults and $100 for children, with a full children’s program included. “Shabbat in the Heights features world-renowned speakers, local tours, a chance to meet Crown Heights personalities, a visit to the Rebbe’s resting place and home,” Begun said. More information via this website. /
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Recommended Reading
Steven P. Dinkin, president of the San Diego-based National Conflict Resolution Center, has a column in Sunday’s San Diego Union-Tribune on combating anti-Semitism, in which he offers several tips for dealing with anti-Semitic comments.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com