The Gazette from Cedar Rapids, Iowa • 4

4a The Cedar Rapids Gazette: May 10, 1997 Opinion Echoes of the Holocaust: 'On my second birthday, I was 14 years old' 3Ma Hladky, President and Publisher Ken Slaughter, Vice President and Treasurer Jdtt Dale Larson, Vice President mrrm and General Manager Jerry Elsea, Editor of Editorial Pages and An independent mtorM floord Chatrman newspaper Mark Bowden' Managin established in 1883 By Si Frumkin I celebrate my other birthday on April 27. I wasn't born on that date just reborn. The death sentence that I had lived with for four years was lifted. My name was no longer "Inmate 82191." AH that ended on that clear and warm April day. I was 14 years old on this, my second birthday.

When people ask me what camp I was in, I say "Dachau." ActuaEy it was Arbeitslager Kaufering No. Administered by Dachau, it was about 50 miles away. Dachau is well known, but most people never heard of Kaufering. A friend of mine, who was in the camp with me, went back to Germany as a tourist front. I didn't want to go, so I hid under the straw in one of the barracks.

They didn't search that day or the next as more people were brought in and marched out again. I had made up my mind that if I was taken out, I Would try to escape into the forest and wait for the Allies. And then, as I lay hiding, quietly, I thought it was quiet outside, unusually quiet no yelling of orders, no movement. I looked out the door. The camp was empty.

There were a few bodies here and there but no guards, no inmates, no one. I made my way to "Once in a while, the kitchen. There someone would was f0J- a few inmates who had overhear a news been ieft behind broadcast that a came straggling in guard listened to through the night or see a piece of In th mot we walked to the paper someone gatei opened it and had dropped. This walked out. We i hnw we knew went across a great is now we Knew empty field when Allied troops were we heard machine moving toward eun fire and bullets whistled overhead.

Germany, toward dropped to the US." ground. "The Germans have come back," I thought. And then one of us jumped up and screamed incoherently dancing, pointing at a line of tanks coming toward us. I THOUGHT he had lost his mind but then I looked, and there were white U.S. stars on the sides of the tanks.

It was April 27, 1945. I was 14 years old on this, my second birthday. SI Frumkin we worked 12-hour shifts plus time to march to work and back, time to stand around and be counted and recounted until the numbers came out right. They never came out right the first time; people died in the night and barracks, and latrines had to be searched for the missing bodies. And so we had little time left to sleep and what with the schedule and starvation diets, people died.

Every few weeks they brought in more people from all over Europe Jews from Poland and Hungary and Czechoslovakia and France and even Greece. We were cheap slaves. Better than cheap, we had no value at all. We cost nothing and there was an inexhaustible supply of us. Toward the end, we knew the war wasn't going well for the Germans.

American planes flew over daily shiny bombers, covering the sky, moving majestically, unhindered, unstoppable. They would drop aluminum chaff to confuse German radar and we would pick it up at first, trying to fathom what it was for. (Were these secret messages for us?) But no one could figure it out and we stopped bothering with it. Once in a while, someone would overhear a news broadcast that a guard listened to or see a piece of paper someone had dropped. This was how we knew Allied troops were moving toward Germany, toward us.

We knew things were changing when we got Red Cross packages, the first and only time in four years. They were individual packages but we got just one for four people luxuries beyond belief a box of sugar cubes, condensed milk, chocolate, a can of sardines and cigarettes. My father, who had given up smoking years before, exchanged his sugar for more cigarettes. Maybe he had a premonition and wanted to have a final little pleasure. He died a few weeks later, on April 7, just 20 days before my liberation.

Around the end of April, they started emptying the other Kaufering camps and bringing the inmates to camp No. 1, my camp. The people would be assembled into columns and marched out, away from the a few years ago. He drove to Kaufering and asked for directions to the concentration camp. The people looked at him as if he was crazy "A camp? Here? There was never a camp near here," they said.

Exasperated, he went to the police station. The cops were polite. "There was never a camp here. You must be mistaken, sir," they said. HE DROVE AROUND the countryside for a while, and eventually found the underground factory that he and I and 30,000 other Jews built.

It still stands. It's a German army warehouse now. They let him look around, but the camps are gone. Real estate developments have replaced the guard towers and the barbed wire. There were 10 Kaufering camps, numbered 1 through 10, with about 3,000 inmates in each.

We all worked on the same giant project building an enormous aircraft factory. Work went on 24 hours a day, seven days a week never a day off, never a holiday. It wasn't a death camp. We were there to work, not to be murdered, but Si Frumkin of Studio City, is chairman of the Southern California Council of Soviet Jews. GAZETTE EDITORIALS Survivors share Holocaust memories FIFTY TWO years after the liberation of Adolf Hitler's concentration camps, people of faith commemorate those who suffered and died 6 million Jews (two-thirds of the Jews in Europe) and an estimated 5 million others: Poles, Slavs, Gypsies, the handicapped and others Nazi Germany considered "unfit." In Eastern Iowa this spring, Holocaust remembrance focusing on the unique genocide against Jews has seen unusually varied observances.

In Mount Vernon last month, Dr. David Thaler and Marianne Bern of Cedar Rapids and Gusti Kollman of Mount Vernon gave 200 fourth graders firsthand accounts of Nazi atrocities in pre-World War II Europe. Also present was Theodore "Ted" Johnson of Ely, member of the U.S. Army's 42nd Rainbow Infantry Division, which liberated the Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945. Johnson told of the horrors he had seen and urged the children to "remember this," because in a few years neither he nor the other presenters would be around to give firsthand testimony.

Last Wednesday, the Cedar Rapids Jewish-Christian Dialogue Group, which usually commemorates Yom HaShoah (Holocaust remembrance day) with a worship service, instead sponsored two performances of a most compelling play, "Kindertransport." Performed by Anamosa's Starlighters II community theater, it tells of a little-known tragedy: Ten thousand German Jewish children taken from their homes before the start of World War II and relocated with foster parents in England. Most never saw their parents again. Last Sunday in Iowa City, the Holocaust remembrance day speaker was Eva Kor of Indiana, founder of Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Experiments (CANDLES). Kor, who lived in Romania before being imprisoned, told how she and her twin sister survived the genetic experiments of Nazi physician Josef Mengele. Kor's appearance was sponsored by the AliberHillel Student Center, the Agudas Achim Synagogue and the Iowa City Jewish Federation.

While Auschwitz, a large group of camps near Krakow in Poland, was infamous as a "death camp," some of the thousands of installations were "work camps." Prisoners were not scheduled for execution, though many died from overwork, disease or starvation. One of the survivors is Si Frumkin of Studio City, Calif. Today (at the top of this page), he tells of his ordeal at a work camp near Dachau. Frumkin, 66, is among the younger Holocaust survivors. His reminiscences are further reminder that in several decades, no more Holocaust survivors will be available to share their memories.

Theoretically, at least, it should not matter greatly. The Third Reich's systematic destruction of millions of Jews and other minority group members is one of the most thoroughly documented tragedies of the 20th century. Library shelves hold a raft of literature on the subject, including reports on famous trials of Nazi war criminals at Nuremburg immediately following World War II and of secret police member and mass executioner Adolf Eichmann in 1961. (His trial helped re-awaken the world to the horrors of the Holocaust.) But reading and seeing Holocaust footage on film is not the same as hearing from survivors. And to children.

World War II is a long time ago. For example, those Mount Vernon fourth graders of today see 1940 the same way the fourth graders of 1950 viewed 1893. Forgetfulness and ignorance bring great danger. May today's children and those of the 21st century remain aware of intolerance and the evil it can spawn. History shows no greater enormity than the Holocaust.

'SSSS nfi Chelsea here 4 Helping hand from HACAP Not everyone is raised in a two-parent family With adequate shelter and nutritious meals and positive influences. Some people need a boost, a helping hand, to guide them toward self-sufficiency. Children and adults need role-models and mentors. In this era of "welfare to work," the "village" may not realize what it takes for some to become self-sufficient. If one has not worked before, business must help develop a work ethic.

A single mother who must work may need help with child care expenses. Working parents in rural areas need adequate transportation. Not everyone can fend for themselves: Physically they can't or socially they don't know how. We have to teach, to set examples, to provide a "helping hand." Creative solutions come from a collaboration of people who recognize needs. Community Action Agencies provide a rallying point.

Although Community Action is 34 years old and approaching mid-life, its work is just beginning. For as long as people need a helping hand, there will be a need for Community Action Agencies. To those who preceded in establishing a strong precedent, thank you. To those of us who now are responsible for its future, we will use our minds, our hearts and our hands to motivate others. B.

Larry Johnson President, HACAP Board of Directors Hear those crying out for help Recently we heard of the death of a young person in Cedar Rapids. It was a shock. Those things aren't supposed to happen. He was young. His life was ahead.

It had just begun. When did this life begin? Was it when his parents were married and prayed for children? Was it at the time of conception? Was it at the time of birth? Or was it when he was old enough to interact with his peers? Maybe it was when you or I passed him by with only a casual glance. Is this happening every day? Do we see someone who, no matter the age, is crying out for help and we don't take the time to even notice? It could be a male or female. Both have problems. Both are susceptible to pain and trouble.

What are we doing about it? Do we really care about those we meet from day to day or are we so busy with our own lives that we can't care about others? Would we want our loved ones to be noticed in time of need? If the answer if yes, let's become more aware of those around us and allow ourselves to be touched with a love and compassion that could be used by God to bring happiness to others and ourselves. Ruth E. Bell, Tipton U.S. backbone is Christianity The people of any community should be able to determine the maximum size it becomes. Darwinian evolution can sow the seeds of racism because it can be theorized that one can evolve to a higher plane than other races.

The seeds of racism should not be sown in the public orC private education systems because racism is a hate crimg and against the law. Evolutionary scientists refrain from research in the name of creation science out of fear of losing government funding be cause of the separation of church and state clause. When government disallows the free exercise of a religion because other religions are not being exercised, it may be estab- lishing all those other religions. That may be a violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment. It may be that on the backs of more than 35 million aborted babies, we have failed to reason together the hard pregnancy cases that constitute only 0.5 percent of conceptions.

Even if we had to make a law for every conceivable hard case, it would be better than the slaughter that is going on now Christianity is what has made this country a melting pot of different races and religions because Christianity teaches tolerance, etc. The God in "One nation under God" is the Father of Jesus Christ and none other. To prohibit the free exercise of one's religion on government or public property is a violation of the "free exercise thereof clause of the First Amendment when all other variables are taken into consideration. 150,000 people seems like a good maximum size for a city: -giant cities seem to lose control of themselves and breed crime. Divide Cedar Rapids into four cities more local control and jobs.

Craig E. Seeley Jr. Cedar Rapids Your Turn The Gazette welcomes letters and guest columns. Not all columns can be printed. But most letters are run that address public business (not private) and meet guidelines.

All material is subject to editing and none of it can be returned to the sender. Writer's full name, signature, full street address, and daytime phone number must be included. (Addresses are not published.) No letters run anonymously. 300-word length limit on letters; one letter per writer every 30 days. Column length suggestion: 700 words or fewer.

Address: Cedar Rapids Gazette, Box 511. Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52406. FAX: (319) 398-5846. E-mail: ga2etteefyi0wa.infl.net Career in nursing offers that 'something more' I had the pleasure of working with a young student nurse one morning. I asked her one of those basic ice-breaker questions: "What made you choose nursing?" After the fairly predictable GUEST COLUMN response of wanting to help people, she said, "I want to be a nurse, but my father is very disappointed.

He wanted me to do something more." is endless. Opportunities and challenges in nursing are limited only by the direction one chooses to take the profession Prestige? Studies have shown that nurses, as a group, are highly respected and trusted. I personally know nurses who have authored books, are administrators of large corporations or owners of companies. The greatest prestige, however, comes from the opportunity to make a difference in someone's life. In times of birth or death, great joy or sorrow, nurses are privileged to be a vital part of major moments in people's lives.

MY PERSONAL CHOICE is to be a nurse. I am proud of who I am and what I do. And I will seize each opportunity to demonstrate that nursing does have that something more. Whatever that may be education, money, opportunity, prestige or something else. If a person truly wants to become a nurse and someone encourages them to do "something more," I truly don't know what that would be.

education and experience beyond the formal classroom. Money? No one ever believes he or she is paid what they are worth. But the last few years have seen improvement in the monetary rewards available to nurses and I applaud this. I believe there are also rewards that can't be measured in dollars and cents. A recent newspaper article focused on the growing number of women who are leaving their law offices because they do not feel good about what they do or how they do it.

Money alone was not enough to hold them in their chosen profession. And if money and happiness were synonymous, there would be no nurses and physicians working in inner-city clinics for a fraction of what they are worth or high-paid executives questioning if their lifestyle is really worth the toll it takes on their family and themselves. Opportunity? From the bedside to the classroom to the research lab to the mission field, nursing offers a wide variety of opportunities. Some nurses fly in helicopters, others Serve in the armed forces, take care of infants, work with the physically challenged, specialize in the senior population, work in business or industry or on a cruise ship. The list patients, but we are also educated to provide excellence in the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of our patients' care.

Many individuals believe nurses are trained to respond with a limited number of programmed reactions without thinking or problem solving. An opportunity to watch an emergency department triage nurse in action may change this perception. A triage nurse is responsible for quickly and accurately assessing patients to determine who can wait, who requires immediate attention, who is giving an accurate history or who is carefully concealing a true complaint. Or observe an experienced critical care nurse who diligenUy monitors a patient and is able to recognize almost imperceptible changes in his or her status. I HAVE LEARNED MORE about people as I practice my profession than I ever could have in a textbook.

I have seen how people cope with a life-altering diagnosis or how a family comes together or falls apart during crises. I have witnessed nurses who dig down into some unseen reservoir of strength to deal with these life moments and serve in the role of teacher, comforter and counselor. These important skills come from an 2 As a 25-year veteran of the nursing profession, I couldn't help but wonder what career choice could possibly offer more. More what? Marti Potter Education? As I walk through the halls of St. Luke's Hospital and see my peers and colleagues who have received nationally recognized certifications or advanced degrees, it makes me proud of our profession.

We not only provide the highest quality technical care for our Marti Potter, R.N., is a nurse at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids. 1.