by Debbie Tuma
Cindy Clifford, President of “Heart of Riverhead Civic Association,” organized a gathering of people at the Riverhead Library, to commemorate “Holocaust Remembrance Day” on May 6.
“We wanted people to tell their stories, or their family’s stories, and we wanted to hear from anyone who also felt persecuted for whatever reason,” she said before the event. “The mission of the Riverhead Civic Association is to bring people together, and to have community building events.”
About 40 people attended, to hear about 10 speakers share stories, poems, diaries, and their thoughts. Ethel Sussman, of South Jamesport, read about Anne Frank, whose diary during the Nazi occupation recounted how things changed for her. The Jews were forbidden to use street cars or ride in private cars, they could shop only in Jewish owned stores, they were forbidden to have any type of entertainment or athletics, to swim in pools, to ride bikes, to visit Christians, and to sit in a garden after 8 pm.
Susan Semerade read “Poetry of the Holocaust” and also one of her poems called, “Lifting the Cloud of Darkness.” She said later that, “It’s very hard not to get emotional when you read these poems.”
Graham Diamond, of Aquebogue, an author of 20 books on historical fiction, sci-fi and fantasy, read from his book, “Maybe You Will Survive,” the story of Aron Goldfarb. Aron was 15 years old when the Nazis invaded his hometown in Poland, and during that time his parents, his two brothers, and two sisters were slain. He and another brother were taken to a forced labor camp where they managed to escape and hide in underground holes on the grounds of an estate controlled by the Gestapo.
Aron and his brother eventually came to New York City, where Aron worked in a leather shop, and later started a fashion company named G-III Leather Fashions. It became a public corporation, known as G-III Apparel Group, and today it employs thousands of people in New York City and abroad, and is a multi-billion dollar business.
“If one person could do something like this, think what six billion Jews could have done if they had survived,” said Diamond.
The Holocaust stories were emotional…but they should never be forgotten, according to Dr. Kerry Spooner, a college professor of Calverton, and founder of the Sound Justice Initiative, who read about “The 999.” She told how these unmarried young Jewish women were picked up by the Nazis who took them to Auschwitz, Poland to die.
Harley Abrams read from “Elie Weisel’s 50th Anniversary Speech of Liberation of Auschwitz.” He also recalled, “When I was 12, someone painted a swastika on our door. I knew what it was, but I never understood this symbol until years later.”
Rabbi Michael Rascoe, of Temple Israel in Riverhead, who was sitting in the audience, said he came to support the program and its speakers. “It’s important that we remember this time and these people,” he said.
Afterward, Nan Peel, of Manorville, said it was “very moving.” “I had to catch my breath,” she said. “It’s so sad to hear how people managed to live through these conditions. And it’s sad that it’s still going on today.”
