The evening began with an austere candle lighting ceremony, led by the youth of the congregation. Six candles were lit for the six million lost.
“We join our souls with the souls that are no longer with us. We have a commitment to ourselves to do something positive, and to better ourselves. We should be thankful for what we have, the strong ties within our families and friends,” said Rabbi Besser, of Kol Israel Congregation.
The keynote speaker for the evening was Ann Kirschner, who authored the novel Sala’s Gift. Ann reflected on her mother’s agonizing and melancholy journey through seven different Nazi work camps. But this is not an ordinary chronicle. Ann Kirschner spent over 50 years knowing her mother, Sala, was a Holocaust survivor, but she was a silent survivor. Ann and her siblings were left to surmise their mother’s former life.
In 1991, Sala Kirschner was facing triple bypass heart surgery. She came to Ann with a simple cardboard box containing over 350 letters, which she smuggled throughout the war. Sala was ready to divulge information of her past. This amazing box enabled Ann to bring her mother’s story to life. After countless hours of researching, organizing and translating the letters, Sala’s Gift came to life.
Sala Garncarz was the youngest of 11 children. On October 25, 1940, at the age of 16, Sala left her family and reported to a labor camp in Geppersdorf, Germany. Six more labor camps followed. In each destination Sala was able to correspond with the outside world. On her first day away from home she met Ala Gertner. Ala Gertner was hung for conspiracy by the Nazis, with three other women, but her 28 letters to Sala are among the 350 wartime letters that are in the permanent Sala Garncarz Kirschner Collection of the Dorot Jewish Division of the New York Public Library. (The heroism of the four women was recognized in 1991 with the dedication of a memorial at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.)
Sala, along with her two older sisters, Raizel and Blima, survived the war. Sadly, they lost most of their immediate relatives. Sala met Corporal Sidney Kirschner and they married shortly after the war ended. They moved to New York to raise their family, and still live there today.
Ann’s clear and concise portrayal of Sala’s story reinforces the reality that as the years move forward, we must never forget the atrocities of the Holocaust. We must embrace each survivor’s story, as a legacy for future generations.
Ann Kirschner began her career as a lecturer on Victorian literature at Princeton University. She has also been a freelance writer and editor at CBS, the New York Times, and several publishing companies. Ann headed up new media for the National Football League (NFL), overseeing the introduction of new programming ventures in emerging technologies such as interactive television and the Internet. She is the founder of NFL.com, and served as president of Comma Communications, a telecommunications and interactive consulting firm. She is currently the University Dean of William E. Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York.
Kol Israel would like to thank Jack Saban for all his hard work in organizing this event.
