I was introduced to Judaism by way of culture more so than religion. I met and married a Holocaust survivor and became fascinated with Jewish history and customs of pre WWII Europe. I have embraced the religion and joyfully converted to Judaism. The following represents a general overview of what I learned in the early days of my marriage. Since that time, I continue to learn about and incorporate Judaism in my life.
Life for Jews in pre-WWII Eastern Europe was about the shtetls and family. Extended families all living within shouting distance was customary with a possible exception of the breadwinner coming home for visits from wherever employment took him. Considered the “old” language, Yiddish was more frequently spoken among the parents. In some circles it was not thought of as fitting for the children, so parents would speak Yiddish when they did not want children to understand. Children learned the country’s language at school and if they spoke Yiddish, it was at home. The colorful Yiddish language spoken in Europe largely fell out of favor with Jewish immigration to the United States post WWII. The menus of famous Jewish deli’s in the United States are reminiscent of the calorie laden Jewish diet of Europe, with emphasis on taste. There are family rituals involving meal preparation for holidays such as latkes for Hannukah or gefilte fish for Pesach, that are highly labor intensive, requiring Kosher ingredients. Yet by many, the ritual is considered an essential part of the holiday, even though it will be consumed in one tenth the time it takes for preparation.
The importance of family grew post WWII with survivors of the Holocaust in many cases being the sole person remaining from their own family. They were resilient people. Though they left Europe with nothing, they were eager to create families of their own after suffering the devastating loss of all they had known. Most left Europe after spending time in displaced person’s camps awaiting the necessary paperwork that would grant them entry to a new country to start new lives. Their destinations were determined by chance or whether they had a distant family member living in a country willing to accept Jewish émigrés. For many survivors there were few belongings left from the war to bring with them to a new country. During the war, people were stripped of belongings and not expected to survive. It was unusual that any treasured family heirlooms such as a menorah or Torah rescued from a burnt out synagogue survived. Some were able to bury precious artifacts and retrieve them at the end of the war. These items keep a tangible memory of the religion that was at the root of Hitler’s plan to eradicate Jews from what he called the Aryan race.
They would find each other in the cities where they were sent to start new lives. Many times they were elated to meet friends from their earlier homes, happy and surprised that each had survived the concentration camps by sheer luck or by hiding. They helped each other start businesses and thrived with new opportunities and watched each other’s families grow up together. Organizations have been established through the years by and for survivors that have helped preserve the customs of European life for new generations. Tradition is strong among these survivors.
Though evidence of the ”The Final Solution” is preserved through meticulous record keeping by the very people that perpetrated atrocities upon the Jewish people, there are some who deny the truth of the Holocaust.