‘I didn’t know there was such a thing as hatred in Jews:’ Holocaust survivor reminds to never forget
Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It’s an annual day to honor the over six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and other victims of the Nazi Regime.
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A free exhibit hosted by The LJD Jewish Family & Community Services Headquarters included a real life look into “the cattle car.” This was an exact replica of what cattle cars in WWII looked like. They were used to take Jews to concentration camps. At that time 1 in every 10 Jews had died from starvation. If a Jew was too weak to work, they were killed.
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Inside the cattle car replica was a multimedia presentation narrated by two holocaust survivors. Their names; Nate Leipciger and Hedy Bohm. Ms. Bohm is 94-years-old.
“I didn’t know I was so naïve I had no idea what was going on,” Bohm said.
She was only 16 at the time.
“That was my small miracle because I kept hoping and hoping that one day after the war I would be reunited with my mom,” Bohm said.
Ms. Bohm was never reunited with her mom or her dad.
“There are no words, at the time I was so young and so unaware of the world I had no idea what was waiting for me,” Bohm explained.
Read: Jacksonville city council to propose bill fighting against ‘awful antisemitism’ across the city
Due to Ms. Bohm’s efforts people now have an idea of what was waiting for her.
In the multimedia presentation Ms. Bohm took guests back in time to watch as men, women and children like herself were crammed up against one another, eventually losing all their human rights. Before the holocaust Ms. Bohm says she had security, something she says was aggressively ripped away from her.
One thing a person will notice in the exhibit is all of the big and small footprints on the ground. That’s because 100 people at a time, anyone from a baby to an elder, was forced to cram into the cattle car.
“I didn’t know there was such a thing as hatred in Jews. I had never heard of antisemitism,” Bohm said.
In recent months Jax has seen examples of hate speech. Antisemitic messages on display at TIAA Bank Field during the Georgia Florida game. Then again, more recently projected on a building in downtown Jax and hate-filled signs above a roadway in downtown.
Read: Jacksonville City Council to introduce bill to combat ‘messages of hate’ projections
“Put yourself in my place just for a minute or two and imagine your parents being taken away from you, your home, your friends, your family and then being told at this point the Holocaust never even happened,” Bohm said.
Evan Levitt is with NCSY, a Jewish organization aimed at informing youth in Florida about Jewish history. He helped put on this exhibit at The LJD Jewish Family & Community Services Headquarters.
Levitt explained why it’s so necessary today.
“It’s important that they learn, it’s important they be sensitive to history. This happened a few generations ago, but people still carry this hatred with them,” Levitt said.
And there are a few survivors left, like Ms. Bohm, who also recalls what it was like to escape that hatred.
“Smiling at us and throwing chewing gum and candy and telling us you’re free, you can go where you want, wow,” Bohm said.
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Friday’s exhibit was aimed at equipping communities with a better knowledge of Jewish history. Why it still matters today and every day after.
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