They entered the banquet hall in a joyous processional, each wearing a white rose and escorted arm-in-arm by a young Jewish teen. More than 400 Holocaust survivors had come to celebrate their lives and accept the accolades of a grateful Jewish community.
“Eyewitness to History,” held Sunday, May 15, at San Francisco’s Hilton Hotel, was the community’s way of saying thank you to the survivors and marking the 60th anniversary of liberation. Almost 1,000 people turned out for the midday event.
Sponsors of “Eyewitness to History” included the Jewish Community Relations Council, the Holocaust Center of Northern California, the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation and its Endowment Fund, and Jewish Family and Children’s Services.
After event co-chair Ingrid Tauber welcomed everyone, Rabbi Brian Lurie rose to lead the motzi, noting that at one time, “a piece of bread was the difference between life and death” for the survivors.
Among those gathered was Bernat Rosner, a Hungarian-born Jew rounded up with his family in 1944 when he was only 12. The Nazis murdered his entire family, but he managed to slip through, hopping a transport to a work camp. After liberation, he made his way to America, graduated from Harvard Law School and enjoyed a successful career as a corporate lawyer.
“This event is pretty special,” said the San Ramon resident. “Until 10 years ago, I had distanced myself from the Holocaust. But I have reconnected with the Jewish community. I realized how much I missed it.”
Rosner went on to write a memoir and join the Berkeley Hillel board. He also speaks to youth groups about his Holocaust experiences.
ABC 7 news anchor Dan Ashley served as the event’s emcee, telling the throng, “Anytime I can get in front of 1,000 people who can’t change the channel, I can’t resist.”
Ashley recently returned from Poland and the annual March of the Living tour of the death camps. He screened two reports filmed at Auschwitz-Birkenau taken from a four-part series, which aired this week.
One of the local survivors featured in those reports, Linda Breder, was in the banquet hall. “I’m so happy,” she said, “that so many young people care to hear our stories.”
Singer Bruce Adler entertained the crowd with an energetic performance, much of it in Yiddish. Though the teenagers appeared baffled, the older folks in the crowd laughed heartily at the Yiddish jokes and songs. Adler translated much of the material to assist “the Yiddish impaired.”
Ashley later walked around the hall, microphone in hand, to speak briefly with a few survivors. Some had been death camp prisoners; others were partisans who fled to the forests. One of them, Bay Area Jewish community leader William J. Lowenberg, rose and said to the throng: “I lost my entire family. This is not an easy day for me.”
Adler closed out the event with a rousing performance of the Yiddish Theater classic “Romania, Romania.”
Afterwards, attendees both young and old seemed moved by the event.
Rachel Simon, 16, of Mill Valley, was one of the teens escorting the survivors into the hall. “The Holocaust generation won’t be around forever,” she said about her reasons for attending. “I want to do what I can.”
As the attendees filed out, survivor Ilena Farkas looked around and said: “It was so touching, so beautiful, so sad.”