Original Article Published on The Jewish Ledger
WATERFORD — Rabbis across the country recently received an important pre-Pesach letter from Eli Zborowski, chairman of the American and International Societies for Yad Vashem.
“I am a Holocaust survivor and the words from slavery to redemption’ hold special meaning to me,” Zborowski wrote.
He then asks that rabbis and their congregants collect Pages of Testimony for the Yad Vashem Online Names Database to help ensure that every victim has a place in our collective memory.
Already the Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names, which was opened in November 2004 for global access (http://www.yadvashem.org), is helping to make sure victims of the Holocaust are recorded. It currently has recorded close to three million names.
Dr. Romana Strochlitz Primus, a Waterford resident, mother of four, and a member of the executive board of the American Society for Yad Vashem, has been involved in the collection of testimonies since 1977.
“We submitted forms for grandparents, aunts and uncles killed during the Holocaust. And we encouraged others to get the data in as well. We even sat with some of them to insure that they filled out the forms,” she said.
Primus, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, was appointed by President Bill Clinton to be a member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, and she served as chairperson of the Life Reborn Project, in which collected artifacts and hosted an international conference in January 2000 on Jewish Displaced Persons, 1945-1951.
Primus acknowledges the usefulness of the on-line database and sees potential for increased interest in the Holocaust.
Primus recounts the story of two sisters, Clara and Chana, who last saw each other in the Budapest Ghetto in 1944. Until a granddaughter began using the database, the sisters assumed the other had died during the Holocaust. The sisters, who both live in Israel, have since been reunited. Primus also notes that the on-line nature of the database allows for easy entry and is less threatening, especially for younger people.
“I hope they will become more interested in the Holocaust and find a direct connection.”
Primus has mainly used the on-line database to make corrections to entries of her family members, and to point out duplications. For example, Primus notes that her maternal grandfather was one of 12 siblings. When the youngest survived the Holocaust and moved to Israel, he also submitted the pages of testimony, which had already been submitted by Primus. “It is really important to get duplications out and for Yad Vashem to have credible claims about the numbers,” notes Primus. “It is important to have an accurate history of the Holocaust.”
Primus was delighted when, three weeks ago, she found news of a living relative she hadn’t known.
“When I was looking in the database, I found my paternal grandmother. Another person was also searching. She wrote and said that my grandmother was her aunt.”
Yad Vashem began collecting Pages of Testimony in 1955. Approximately 30,000 new pages of testimony are recorded each year. More than two million names have been recorded on pages of testimony since 1955 and an additional million names have been taken from other archival resources.
According to Rachelle Grossman, director of communications for American Society for Yad Vashem, there has been “overwhelming interest” and “several million visits” to the site thus far.
Dr. Romana Strochlitz Primus will be honored by the American Society for Yad Vashem at its Fifth Annual Spring Luncheon on Wednesday, May 25. For more information, call American Society for Yad Vashem at (212) 220-4304 or send an e-mail to info@yadvashemusa.com.
Primus has mainly used the on-line database to make corrections to entries of her family members, and to point out duplications. For example, Primus notes that her maternal grandfather was one of 12 siblings. When the youngest survived the Holocaust and moved to Israel, he also submitted the pages of testimony, which had already been submitted by Primus. “It is really important to get duplications out and for Yad Vashem to have credible claims about the numbers,” notes Primus. “It is important to have an accurate history of the Holocaust.”