More to ‘identity’ than a name

NURIT JOSELOWSKY, GRADE 11

During the Holocaust, a Jew was never seen as a person, but rather as a number, an object and an enemy – six million people, 1,5 million children, looked at as one single enemy, simply for being Jewish.

Holocaust survivor Veronica Phillips who survived the Ravensbruck concentration camp, shared her story with the King David Linksfield learners.

After listening to her story, displaying her true strength and immense bravery, the learners realised how privileged they were as one of the last generations to be able to hear the stories of these heroes who went through something today’s younger generations will never be able to fully understand.

At the Yom Hashoah ceremony at West Park Cemetery last Sunday, we heard Rabbi Yossy Goldman of Sydenham Shul mention memories of his father, who was a Holocaust survivor.

What stuck with me was that when Rabbi Goldman was living in America and he went to daven in shul every morning, he would see all the men roll up their sleeves to put their tefillin on and most of them, Holocaust survivors, had blue numbers on their arms. These were the numbers with which they were identified during the Holocaust.

As Jews, we need not only recognise our identities, but also the identities of those who came before us and those still to come.