135094 is a Living Tattoo

Hundreds of people gathered Last week at Congregation Beth Sholom Chabad of Mineola to hear Auschwitz survivors give first-person accounts of their experiences during the Holocaust.

Hosted by Rabbi Anchelle Perl, the event “When the Numbers Count” looked specifically at what the concentration camp tattoos have come to mean to survivors.

Opening the program, Rabbi Perl spoke about what the Rebbe taught about the Holocaust itself.

“The Rebbe rejected all theological explanations for the Holocaust,” he said.

“What greater conceit” — the Rebbe would say — “and what greater heartlessness, can there be than to give a ‘reason’ for the death and torture of millions of innocent men, women and children?”

The Rebbe would say: “It is not my task to justify G-d on this. Only G-d Himself can answer for what He allowed to happen. And the only answer we will accept,” said the Rebbe, “is the immediate and complete Redemption that will forever banish evil from the face of the earth and bring to light the intrinsic goodness and perfection of G-d’s creation.”

But the most important thing about the Holocaust to the Rebbe was not how we do or do not understand it, but what we do about it. If we allow the pain and despair to dishearten us from raising a new generation of Jews with a strong commitment to their Jewishness, then Hilter’s “final solution” will be realized, G-d forbid. But if we rebuild, if we raise a generation proud of and committed to their Jewishness, we will have triumphed.

The Survivors Speak

The program’s theme “transforming tragedy to triumph” was highlighted by stirring words from Deborah Watman, a student at SKA High School for Girls in Hewlett Bay Park, who spoke about her grandfather, a survivor of Auschwitz and his amazing example and ability to inspire her to focus on her Yiddishkeit and Torah way of life.

For Zelik Sander, a Holocaust survivor who was held captive at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp, the pain of being forcibly tattooed didn’t compare to the pain of days of hunger he suffered.

Sander, 95, paid little attention to the number Nazi officers etched onto his left arm but eventually “135094” became his identity, he said.

“I forgot my name,” Sander, of Port Washington, said. “I was always called by my number.” The mark is something he and many other survivors bear to this day.

Irving Roth, 80, of Williston Park, was held at Auschwitz and spoke of the tattoo’s immediate effect. “That tattoo was a temporary stay of execution,” he said. “It meant you weren’t being killed. To the Nazis, I became chattel.”

Others who spoke, including survivors Irene Greenwald, 80, of Roslyn, and Jack Rosenthal, 83, of Roslyn, said they hid the tattoos once they got to the United States by wearing Band-Aids or long-sleeved clothing.

Some, like Sander’s wife, even got them surgically removed. Over time, others, including yesterday’s speakers, said they stopped hiding the marks and began to speak about their experiences.

Now, Greenwald, once reluctant to tell of her captivity at various concentration camps, said she hopes her words will inspire others to prevent the kind of violence she witnessed.

For her, the “A5859” on her left arm is a permanent reminder of the cruelty humans can inflict.

“You could be having the best time,” she said. “When you get together with your friends and family, the end discussion is always Auschwitz.”