What does one do when their entire life has been destroyed?

by Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis and Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

Refugee Ship

Refugee Ship Captured By British
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

The war was over. The Nazi horror had been stopped.

But where to go? Some tried to return to their old towns, and were killed by mobs or driven away by the "new" occupants of their house. Many tried to emigrate to the land of Israel, but were prevented by the British blockade and sent to camps in Cyprus.  They went, weary Jews of Europe, to begin their lives anew.

The Holocaust reshaped the Jewish world and affected us in more ways than we realize.   May we all see the day when humanity comes of age and horrors such as this are no more.

Liberated Children

Jewish Children On Day Of Liberation
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

Looking To The Future

Mother And Child Waiting To Emigrate
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem
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Published: Wednesday, December 31, 1969
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Visitor Comments: 59

(59) Yan, October 23, 2007 8:19 AM

No words can describe this

The Holocaust was so horrible that there are no words available in any language to describe what I feel about this sad history. I find myself fortunate that no one in my immediate family was affected by this. But, what makes this still so sad is the fact that mass genocide and ethnic "cleansing" still occures in other parts of the world to this day. Why is it that people insist on practicing the vile philosophy of hatred?

(58) TALICIA, July 4, 2006 12:00 AM

how can people be that cruel?

i think what i saw was the most nastey,dirtything a human could do,i'm glad world war 2 is over and i feel really bad for those people in the camps men,women and especialy children no one deserve to be treated like that and i hope that the nazis and hitler are burning in hell.

(57) Anonymous, April 25, 2006 12:00 AM

I am writing this to let my fellow humans of the Jewish faith know that not all Gentiles let the Holocaust happen and that many suffered a great deal, not on the scale of the Jews, but they still did suffer. My father is Polish and Catholic. he lived in a village in southwest Poland that had a few Jewish families. My Polish, Catholic Grandfather could also speak Hebrew, mainly for business purposes, but never the less he knew it. My father suffered a great deal during the war. His house was bombed twice, the Hitler youth tried to inculcate him in their ways, but he would run into the forest for a month or more at a time to escape, because the nazi way of thinking and doing was not the true Christian way of being, the way my family thought. My father was taught to respect all men/women regardless of their faith, it was the person themself who was important, not their religion, nor their wealth. Anyway, my father and his family were forced to work, were moved to various locations and ended up in France. No they did not end up in a concentration camp, but defying authorities had my Grandfather bashed by SS Officers regularly. My father was also beaten often. My Aunt was even kicked in the back by a Nazi sargeant because she was Polish and it caused a deformity in her back. She should be 5 feet 8 inches, she is about 5 feet. My Father to this day cannot stand to hear German spoken, it brings back too many harsh memories. Recently, he told me that when Jewish families were taken from his village, the locals were made to gut the houses (remove furniture, burn things etc). I asked him how it made him feel, as he was only 14 or so at the time. My father became overwhelmed with emotion and said that he felt great sadness that this could happen to any people. Poles and Christians did not all necessarily stand back and let the holocaust happen. if they said or did anything opposite to the Nazis, they too were shot or sent to concentration camps. Nazi are not Christians. More could have been done, that is true, however on my father's part, he made sure that his children learned to respect and appreciate people of all faiths and backgrounds. Tolerance and respect are universal and it is these two things we need to focus on. Not all gentiles are narrow- minded, xenophobic people, I am not. I have friends who are from all walks of life and of all colours and faiths, thanks to my Father teaching me the principles of being a descent person. My heart breaks to watch anything about the holocaust, its inhumanity, its injustice. As a mother of four children, I am teaching them about what happened in WWII and how wrong it was. They will never be racist/intolerant as long as I live, and neither will I. God Bless.

(56) Michele, January 14, 2006 12:00 AM

nazis hated everybody.

I am writing this to let my fellow humans of the Jewish faith know that not all Gentiles let the Holocaust happen and that many suffered a great deal, not on the scale of the Jews, but they still did suffer. My father is Polish and Catholic. he lived in a village in southwest Poland that had a few Jewish families. My Polish, Catholic Grandfather could also speak Hebrew, mainly for business purposes, but never the less he knew it. My father suffered a great deal during the war. His house was bombed twice, the Hitler youth tried to inculcate him in their ways, but he would run into the forest for a month or more at a time to escape, because the nazi way of thinking and doing was not the true Christian way of being, the way my family thought. My father was taught to respect all men/women regardless of their faith, it was the person themself who was important, not their religion, nor their wealth. Anyway, my father and his family were forced to work, were moved to various locations and ended up in France. No they did not end up in a concentration camp, but defying authorities had my Grandfather bashed by SS Officers regularly. My father was also beaten often. My Aunt was even kicked in the back by a Nazi sargeant because she was Polish and it caused a deformity in her back. She should be 5 feet 8 inches, she is about 5 feet. My Father to this day cannot stand to hear German spoken, it brings back too many harsh memories. Recently, he told me that when Jewish families were taken from his village, the locals were made to gut the houses (remove furniture, burn things etc). I asked him how it made him feel, as he was only 14 or so at the time. My father became overwhelmed with emotion and said that he felt great sadness that this could happen to any people. Poles and Christians did not all necessarily stand back and let the holocaust happen. if they said or did anything opposite to the Nazis, they too were shot or sent to concentration camps. Nazi are not Christians. More could have been done, that is true, however on my father's part, he made sure that his children learned to respect and appreciate people of all faiths and backgrounds. Tolerance and respect are universal and it is these two things we need to focus on. Not all gentiles are narrow- minded, xenophobic people, I am not. I have friends who are from all walks of life and of all colours and faiths, thanks to my Father teaching me the principles of being a descent person. My heart breaks to watch anything about the holocaust, its inhumanity, its injustice. As a mother of four children, I am teaching them about what happened in WWII and how wrong it was. They will never be racist/intolerant as long as I live, and neither will I. God Bless.

(55) Susan Rubinstein, February 2, 2005 12:00 AM

Thank g-d my grandfathers left Poland/Russia in the early 1920's

Everytime I read Holocaust articles, I think how lucky I am that my grandfathers who lived in Eastern Poland came to the US in the early 1900's, one came in 1909, and the other in 1927.. I have always asked my parents, who were both from Orthodox jewish families and both born in Poland and came here as babies, why their father's left Poland.. They always told me the same thing, their father's did not like how the Polish and Russian peoples were treating the jews..and this was WW1 time, way before Hitlers reign of terror and killing....I thank Hashem for helping my grandpa's see the writings on the wall ahead of time..I did meet my mom's cousin in Israel who had numbers on her arm and told us how she saw her parents, one was my grandma's sister who remained in Poland, shot right infront of her eyes by the SS. To this day, I can't seem to trust gentiles as much as I trust another jew, and although I'm 46, this feeling, unfortunately, will probably always remain with me. My 11 yr old son does not understand this history yet, but one day when he does, he'll be as I was when at 12, I met my cousin in Israel who was a camp survivor and it was then when I learned how HORRIBLE and INHUMAN many people can be.

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About the Author

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis studied biology and geology at Northern Illinois University. In addition, he spent time as a deep-sea diver in the oil fields in the North Sea between Scotland and Norway and has circumnavigated the seas of the world in a sailboat. Rabbi Ellis received rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah where he is a senior lecturer at the Discovery and Essentials programs.

Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky received his BS from Cornell with a major in Communication Arts and a minor in Archeology, and did post-graduate work at UCLA in the field of Desert Plants and Natural History. Prior to moving to Israel, he worked in the field of Urban Ecology including several years as a landscape designer in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Silinsky received rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah and the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. He currently teaches at the Yeshivat Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem.

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