(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)November 7, 2008

MAHWAH – Holocaust survivor Susan Gold of Englewood spoke at a Kristallnacht commemoration at Temple Beth Haverim Shir Shalom of Mahwah in November. The evening was co-sponsored by the Temple and the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies on Friday, November 7, 2008.

A native of the Polish city of Lvov, now Lviv in the Ukraine, Gold lived underground with her parents from 1943 to 1945. During the commemoration, she spoke about her experience as a Jewish child in hiding during the Holocaust, including the unique cultural milieu that constituted the Lvov of her childhood. Before World War I Lvov was a university town and outpost of German culture with a strong Jewish presence. Under independent Poland, it became a contested space in which Jews found themselves caught in the middle of increasing ethnic conflict between the local Polish and Ukrainian populations. Gold, who came to the United States in 1947, is the author of The Eyes Are All the Same, an account of her experiences in hiding and her return to life in post-war America.

The Ramapo Chorale and CantaNOVA, under the direction of Lisa Lutter, assistant professor of music at the college, joined the choir of Beth Haverim Shir Shalom, under the direction of Cantor David Perper. Together, they performed a memorable musical program that was simultaneously solemn and uplifting.

The evening commemorated November 9, 1938, 70 years ago, when Jews throughout Germany and the newly acquired territories of Austria and former Czechoslovakia were attacked in the street, in their homes and at their places of work and worship. At least 96 Jews were killed and hundreds more injured. More than 1,000 synagogues were burned and almost 7,500 Jewish businesses were destroyed. In addition, 30,000 Jewish males were arrested and, for the first time in the history of the Third Reich, Jews were sent en masse to concentration camps. This coordinated attack has come to be known as Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass.

Members of the Ramapo Chorale rehearsing for the Center’s annual joint Kristallnacht commemoration with Temple Beth Haverim Shir Shalom.

Cantor David Perper of Temple Beth Haverim Shir Shalom leading a joint rehearsal of his congregation’s adult choir and the Ramapo Chorale before the annual Kristallnacht commemoration.

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