CH-CH Hosts Holocaust Survivor
On January 6, 2009 Chapel Hill – Chauncy Hall hosted Rabbi Joseph Polak. Rabbi Polak is a holocaust survivor and spoke to the community about his experience as a young child in Holland.
Rabbi Polak delivered a powerful speech to a respectful and participating audience. The audience was enlightened with details about the restrictions Jews faced during the war and the conditions that Jews endured. For example, the 135,000 Jews in Holland were not allowed to use bicycles for transportation, use public parks, or attend public schools. The theme of the presentation was complicity during the holocaust. “It takes a whole society to make a holocaust: the doers and the bystanders,” stated Rabbi Polak.
When Rabbi Polak entered his first concentration camp in Holland, Westerbork, his family had to pay for their own train tickets and then sign over their personal assets. While the administrators of Westerbork attempted to create the illusion of security in the camp, Rabbi Polak’s family expected the worst as empty trains arrived every Tuesday morning to take them to their 2nd concentration camp, Bergen-Belsen, located in northwest Germany.
Bergen-Belsen was liberated in 1945. After being separated from his mother, Rabbi Polack was reunited with her almost a year later. “The war ended in 1945, not the holocaust,” the Rabbi reflected.
There was time for audience questions at the end the presentation and students will complete a follow-up activity during an advisory session later this week.
For more information about Westerbork:
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
For more information about Bergen-Belsen:
Link 4
Rabbi Polak is the director of the Florence & Chafetz Hillel House at Boston University. For more information:
http://www.bu.edu/hillel/about/staff/index.html
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Rabbi Polak delivered a powerful speech to a respectful and participating audience. The audience was enlightened with details about the restrictions Jews faced during the war and the conditions that Jews endured. For example, the 135,000 Jews in Holland were not allowed to use bicycles for transportation, use public parks, or attend public schools. The theme of the presentation was complicity during the holocaust. “It takes a whole society to make a holocaust: the doers and the bystanders,” stated Rabbi Polak.
When Rabbi Polak entered his first concentration camp in Holland, Westerbork, his family had to pay for their own train tickets and then sign over their personal assets. While the administrators of Westerbork attempted to create the illusion of security in the camp, Rabbi Polak’s family expected the worst as empty trains arrived every Tuesday morning to take them to their 2nd concentration camp, Bergen-Belsen, located in northwest Germany.
Bergen-Belsen was liberated in 1945. After being separated from his mother, Rabbi Polack was reunited with her almost a year later. “The war ended in 1945, not the holocaust,” the Rabbi reflected.
There was time for audience questions at the end the presentation and students will complete a follow-up activity during an advisory session later this week.
For more information about Westerbork:
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
For more information about Bergen-Belsen:
Link 4
Rabbi Polak is the director of the Florence & Chafetz Hillel House at Boston University. For more information:
http://www.bu.edu/hillel/about/staff/index.html
Chapel Hill - Chauncy Hall
Located 10 miles from Boston, Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall (CH-CH) is a private, college preparatory day and boarding school for grades 8-12/PG. CH-CH cultivates intellectual courage, creative ambition, and unwavering empathy that drives students to achieve their best.
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