Generations of the Shoah New Jersey
2nd and 3rd Generation - “Carrying the Legacy”
September 10, 2006
Presented at Rutgers University
Life after the Holocaust:
Meeting the Needs of
Holocaust Survivors and Their Families
By Maryann McLoughlin, BJ Pinnock, Gail Hirsch Rosenthal
A project of Jewish Family Service of Atlantic County
and
The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Holocaust Resource Center
Life after the Holocaust:
Meeting the Needs of Holocaust Survivors and Their Families
Nestled in the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey, The Richard Stockton
College of New Jersey has a total of 6500 undergraduate students and 600 graduate
students. A minor in Holocaust and Genocide studies is offered for undergraduate
students and a Master of Arts in Holocaust and Genocide, on the graduate level.
Approximately 1000 undergraduate students enroll in courses per academic year. A
sampling follows: Literature of Genocide and Upheaval, History of the Third Reich,
Children of the Holocaust, Genocide, War Crimes, and Law, Literature and Film of the
Holocaust, and Holocaust Resource Center Internship.
The Holocaust Resource Center of the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
began informally in the late 1980’s as a Holocaust survivor oral history project of the
college and community volunteers. The collection of oral histories grew and the center
was developed to house the oral history tapes as well as reference books, periodicals,
videos, posters, lesson plans for grades K-12, subject area files, and other books and
resources about the Holocaust and other Genocides. The Holocaust Resource Center
became a hub for Holocaust survivors in this south New Jersey area. The Holocaust
Resource Center is a joint project of Stockton College and the Jewish Federation of
Atlantic and Cape May Counties, supervised by Gail Hirsch Rosenthal with the
assistance of Maryann McLoughlin.
Many Holocaust survivors arrived at New York Harbor after the war. Most had
problems finding employment particularly because of the language barrier. Also
vocations that were prevalent in Europe prior to the war were not always available in the
United States. Therefore, The Joint Distribution Committee and the Baron de Hirsch
Fund provided loans and monies to purchase poultry farms in south New Jersey. As one
Holocaust survivor explained to me, “After all, the chickens spoke Polish, so the work
was easier than being in a factory in New York.” Stockton College is near the areas
where the chicken farms were located. Today most of the farms are no longer in existence
but the Holocaust survivor community remains.
The needs of this Holocaust survivor community and their families were brought
to the attention of the Holocaust Resource Center staff by a graduate course offered
through the Master of Arts in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. The Ida E. King
Distinguished Visiting Professor of Stockton College in 1998, Dr. Dan Bar-On,
challenged the Stockton graduate students to interview families of Holocaust survivors
and their children. As the reports were given by the graduate students, it was obvious that
there was a tremendous need for all types of support and services for Holocaust survivors
and their families. This was a shock to the staff of the Holocaust Resource Center. Some
in the Jewish community questioned the need for outreach services for Holocaust
survivors and second generation. After all, no one had asked for help! Yet many
Holocaust survivors were living in isolation and second generation had needs for support
and comfort. One second generation member shared with a graduate student, “My mother
is still twelve years old. That is the age that she was when the Nazis invaded her town in
Poland. She was robbed of her teenage years and has never matured. I need help in
dealing with her needs.”
Representatives from the Holocaust Resource Center contacted Jewish Family
Service of Atlantic County, New Jersey, for assistance. The first goal was to update the
list of local Holocaust survivors and their families with addresses and phone numbers.
Our contact person was BJ Pinnock, a social worker at Jewish Family Service. This
involved interviewing identified Holocaust survivors who then told us where other
survivors and second generation resided. A Holocaust Survivor Planning Committee was
formed headed by community volunteer leaders of the Holocaust Resource Center and
Jewish Family Service. The first meeting in August of 1999 focused on setting the goals
and planning for the future of this committee. At this point, no one was sure what the
exact needs were of the survivor community. Dr. Bar-On’s urging to assist survivors was
the mission although most still questioned if this was a community-wide need. It was
decided to have a free Hanukah luncheon at the local Jewish Community Center in
December of 1999. A grant had been obtained from the Foundation of the Jewish
Federation to defray the costs. The program featured a representative from the American
Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors. Invitations were sent with a phone response for
attendance. About twenty-five Holocaust survivors and their families responded. We
planned refreshments for fifty, just in case. To our surprise on that cold December day
there were over 100 participants who attended the luncheon. The Holocaust survivors
said that perhaps they would attend other social events. We were happy to see that this
event had reunited Holocaust survivors who had not seen each other for years. Some
were even surprised that their chicken farm neighbors had stayed in the area. One
Holocaust survivor spontaneously played the piano and we all sang Hanukah songs to
conclude the program.
A fundraising committee was formed headed by Jack Gorny, a second generation
member and his wife Bethany. Fund raising meetings were held in the community and an
$1800.00 donation per family was suggested. The campaign was successful and enough
money was raised to defray the cost of the lunches and other social events. Money was
also raised to cover expenses for those survivors who need medical assistance and care.
This restricted endowed fund is administered by Jewish Family Service for the lifetime of
the Holocaust survivors. The fund will eventually be zero dollars.
Today the Holocaust Survivor Planning Committee is composed of
Holocaust survivors with a staff person from the Holocaust Resource Center and Jewish
Family Service. On occasion a community volunteer attends but most important the
Holocaust survivors have taken ownership of this planning committee. Half of the
luncheons’ costs are paid by the survivors and friends or family who attend the luncheon,
usually only $5.00 each. A sponsor from the community pays the rest of the costs.
The events have become monthly at Jewish Family Service in a large board
meeting room with lunch always included. The lunches are made and delivered to Jewish
Family Service by Seashore Gardens, a kosher living center for senior citizens
The discussion about food is extremely important at the planning meetings,
partially a result of their deprivation during the Holocaust. Many issues surround food.
For example, at first the Jewish Family Service staff stood against the walls while the
survivors helped themselves at a buffet and ate their lunches. The survivors were
concerned about this; they felt the staff was watching how much food they were taking.
They are hyper-vigilant about food, even with each other; they watch what each one
takes. This is a survival strategy, a result of their experiences during the Holocaust.
The social aspect is most important and the Holocaust survivors chose the
program. The luncheons provide continuity, maintaining contact with other Holocaust
survivors with whom they have shared memories and shared grief. They feel that the
general public does not understand what happened to them during the Holocaust. With
other Holocaust survivors they have a shared identity—a bond. When a survivor dies, the
group mourns together, but they also celebrate together—announcements are made of
anniversaries, of births of grandchildren and great grandchildren, wedding anniversaries,
graduations. It is also possible to integrate newer Holocaust survivors who have recently
moved to our area. These newer survivors meet new friends or recognize old friends and
reconnect.
By attending these luncheons at Jewish Family Service, survivors become more
comfortable coming to Jewish Family Service. In addition, they are made aware of the
services that Jewish Family Service provides. Many of the survivors knew each other
before these luncheons; however, the luncheons do provide them with a social occasion
that they can look forward to. For some the monthly luncheon may be their only social
occasion during a month. Holocaust survivors are at more of a disadvantage than the
typical senior population. They are typically more isolated from the general community.
Other immigrants had difficulty assimilating but Holocaust survivors had even more
difficulty. Our local Holocaust survivors tell us that even other Jewish groups did not
believe what had happened to them. They have said that others have said such things as
the following,” That could not have happened.” “I don’t believe that happened.” These
responses denied the experiences of the Holocaust survivors and negated them as
persons. The responses were very damaging and created an atmosphere of distrust. The
luncheons, on the other hand, have a therapeutic result. They validate each other’s
experiences, creating trust with each other and with Jewish Family Service and the
Holocaust Resource Center.
The luncheons have created bridges to other experiences. The following are some
of the other activities that Jewish Family Service of Atlantic County, New Jersey, and the
Holocaust Resource Center of the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey have cosponsored. Jewish Family Service usually provides the transportation for the survivors.






Tour and luncheon at the Anne Frank exhibit at a local shopping mall.
Tribute to Holocaust Survivors and their families at the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum. The museum was closed to the public on this weekend and
programming at the museum was devoted to Holocaust survivors and their
families.
Tour and service at the synagogue at the Woodbine Museum of Jewish Heritage
with school children from two Jewish day schools.
Inclusion in local Yom HaShoah memorial services and programs.
Inclusion in the State of New Jersey tribute to Holocaust survivors at the State
Capitol building in Trenton, attended by many former governors of New Jersey .
One of our local Holocaust survivors was featured singing her original
composition. She received a standing ovation!
Film premiere in New York City of a documentary, Shanghai Ghetto, part of
which was based on the experiences of one of our survivors, Betty Grebenshikoff.



Two buses of Holocaust survivors and their families and friends attended the
premiere.
Film premiere of Broken Silence, made by the daughter of a Holocaust survivor.
Annual Intergenerational Brunch—once a year a special luncheon for Holocaust
survivors and their families. Entertainment provided.
Full day excursion to historic Cape May, New Jersey—survivors were taken to
Cape May, NJ, another resort community, where they had luncheon, met Cape
May Holocaust survivors, and took a trolley tour of this quaint Victorian town.
A project initiated for Holocaust survivors by Stockton College was the “Writing as
Witness” Program that began in April of 2001. The initial meeting was an informational
one with the idea of survivors sitting around tables and writing vignettes about a
particular memory that they had. We found that survivors would rather talk with one
another than to write in a group. Therefore, we gave them each a composition book and a
stamped envelope so that they could write down some of their memories and then mail
them to the Holocaust Center at Stockton College. About ten people returned these
composition books with one or two vignettes.
We followed up with these survivors and eventually some of them decided to write
memoirs with the guidance of the Holocaust Center’s Assistant Supervisor, Dr. Maryann
McLoughlin, writing and literature professor. Six memoirs written by Holocaust
survivors have been published varying in length from 90 pages to 180 pages. In addition,
there are seven Holocaust survivor memoirs in process. Also three memoirs have been
written by third generation who were Stockton undergraduate students. The third
generation members that wrote their grandparents’ stories through Stockton’s Holocaust
Resource Center have told us that their grandparents never told their story about their
lives during the war until they were asked by their grandchildren
Writing or doing “as told to” memoirs have a number of therapeutic results for
Holocaust survivors. Telling their stories facilitates discussion of the Holocaust. In most
cases, writing and publishing these memoirs has opened communication with their
families, especially with second generation members. First generation responses to their
children regarding the communication of their experiences during the Holocaust have
been idiosyncratic—silence or dumping on their children are two typical responses. So
writing these memoirs is part of a healthy communication about the Holocaust.
Another therapeutic benefit of writing these Holocaust survivor memoirs is the
positive attention they receive from the community—from fellow Holocaust survivors,
their children and siblings, school children and college students, and members of their
synagogue. Often the survivor goes on the road with his or her book, visiting schools,
synagogues, and libraries to introduce the story and to sell books. School and college
students always tell us that the visit from the Holocaust survivor was the highpoint of the
course. They write letters to survivors, praising and thanking the survivor for telling the
story and writing the memoir. Moreover, articles in local papers highlight the survivor
and his or her book for the community at large. This public recognition acknowledges
and validates the survivors’ experiences during the Holocaust.
In addition to Holocaust survivors benefiting from the above programs, the Jewish
Family Service and Stockton’s Holocaust Resource Center have benefited. Some
Holocaust survivors feel more comfortable with the Jewish Family Service organization
and have come in for therapy or have been referred by other survivors. Holocaust
survivors suggest that another survivor, whom they know is having difficulty, talk with a
social worker, saying, “I’ve been there. It’s fine. You should go and talk with them.”
This normalizes the experience of asking for help and removes the shame they felt, thus
the stigma. This is true too of second generation. Previously they hesitated to ask for
help; they have picked up on the shame and guilt that some of their parents have felt.
However, because of the intergenerational programs second generation members are
aware of the services and are more willing to ask for help on their parents’ behalf and for
themselves.
The Holocaust Resource Center at the Richard Stockton College has also benefited
from this symbiotic relationship with Holocaust survivors. Survivors contribute to the
programming at the Holocaust Resource Center and often attend events. The writing of
Holocaust survivor memoirs has inspired the staff of the Holocaust Resource Center to
write teacher guides for the books so the memoirs can be easily used in an educational
setting. The on-line educational magazine, Dimensions, published by the
Anti-Defamation League is written by the staff of the Holocaust Resource Center and our
local Holocaust survivors are often featured. The Holocaust Resource Center has
increased its service to the community and, furthermore, strengthened its connection to
Jewish Family Service. Communication flows between all. Many times also the
undergraduate student interns from Stockton’s Holocaust Resource Center go to the
luncheons or the events, so a bridge is created between young and old; and because many
of our students are non-Jews we are creating bonds between Jews and non-Jews.
A highlight of our programming was a graduation celebration in June 2005 at the Atlantic
County Institute of Technology, a vocational high school. Many of our Holocaust
survivors often told us that they were “cheated out of” finishing their education. When
they arrived in the United States all they could focus on was work and family. They
wanted to assimilate and not be set apart because they had not completed their education.
As our local Holocaust survivors aged, they yearned for their missing diplomas. We
traveled to New Jersey’s state capital, Trenton, with administrators from Atlantic County
Institute of Technology, and met with Dr. Paul Winkler, Executive Director of the New
Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education and other New Jersey Department of
Education officials. A Holocaust survivor, Maud Dahme, immediate past president of the
New Jersey State Board of Education, assisted us. Dr. Elizabeth Klem, a literature
teacher, had her students read memoirs written by our local Holocaust survivors with a
classroom follow-up visit. With everyone’s help, our survivors “graduated” with the 2005
graduation class of the Atlantic County Institute of Technology. The evening was
splendid: the survivors were delighted and very moved by the ceremony and the special
recognition that they received. The students graduating and their families honored the
survivors and their accomplishments. The survivors indeed are role models for these
students. For despite the interruption to their educations and the terrible trauma that they
have suffered, the survivors have succeeded in creating professions and businesses as
well as good lives for themselves and their families. In 2006, the Holocaust survivors are
returning to Atlantic County Institute of Technology. The Holocaust survivors are sharing
their strategies, techniques, and work ethics. They are in the classrooms of culinary
cuisine, hospitality management, cosmetology, and business management. The school’s
superintendent, Dr. Phillip Guenther, named the program: “Stories of Triumph.” Dr.
Johanna Johnson, Director of Curriculum, has assisted in the co-ordination of the project.
This event garnered national press, so perhaps other cities will provide a similar
celebration for their survivors.
The media coverage of many of the events has been outstanding. The
“graduation” went across the television international wire service as well as associated
press wire service. The “graduation” even made the front page of the Los Angeles Times.
These articles and news segments promote the recognition and awareness that there are
Holocaust survivors in our Atlantic County community and perhaps other communities
can assess their services to their Holocaust survivors.
The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey has been involved in the planning of
activities for Holocaust survivors with Jewish Family Service of Atlantic County since
1999 when the Holocaust Resource Center recognized the need in the community for
more activities and services to meet the needs of Holocaust survivors and their families.
Support for this project emanates from the administrations of each institution:
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Dr, Herman Saatkamp, President
Dr. David Carr, Provost
Dr. G. Jan Colijn, Dean of General Studies and Administrator of the
Holocaust Resource Center
Jewish Family Service of Atlantic County
Mrs. Myra Eskin, Director
Life after the Holocaust for survivors and their families has been difficult. We at
the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey Holocaust Resource Center and the Jewish
Family Service of Atlantic County, New Jersey, have met this challenge, making their
lives easier.