Cover Story

"They went through unspeakable horrors and then worked hard
lives around. We want to show that these are resilient, incredible

JACK PLUDWINSEI

Poland was the home of Jack
Reb Hershl Roth was the oldest of
Pludwinski, who was barred from
nine children in a strict Jewish house-
going to school when the Germans
hold when the Nazis moved into
came to power. His family was moved
Hungary. Thinking ahead to what
to the ghetto before being sent to
might happen, he took the jewelry
Auschwitz, and he was forced to dig
owned by his family and buried it
basements with his hands as the only
under the kitchen floor.
tools.
The family soon was moved to a
By the time he entered the camp, he
ghetto and then Auschwitz. Except
was separated from his family, which I
for two sisters, with whom he was
included two brothers and three sis-
reunited after the war, it is
S ters; he never saw them again.
believed everyone else was mur-
"I was 16 and didn't give up,"
dered.
Pludwinski says. "Most of the people
Roth and his father were sent to
died from typhus because the condi-
the Wolfsburg labor camp, where
tions were so dirty."
they were made to work outdoors
Pludwinski was able to come to
for long and grueling hours just for
America in 1947 after being liberated
the sake of working. Nothing came
by the Americans from another camp 1
of it.
to which he had been transferred.
When Russian forces were closing
There had been rumors that the
in, he was sent to a satellite camp.
troops were coming, but the Germans
On the way, many people died
stayed until the very end, so survivors
because of lack of food. On arrival at
weren't sure.
the camp, others died in a stampede
Pludwinski went to New York and I
to reach shelter from freezing tern-
Cleveland before Detroit, where
peratures.
arrangements were made for him to
After liberation, Roth returned to
live with a family . while he attended
I
his hometown, dug up the hidden
night school to learn English. Later,
jewelry and now wears two gold
he found work as an upholsterer, mar-
rings that he recovered. He came to
ried and had one daughter and four I
the United States on a student visa
grandchildren. Now he is retired in
to finish yeshiva studies, married
I
Southfield.
and had five children, 23 grand-
While Pludwinski's personal memo-
children and three great-grandchil-
ii ries of suffering and loss remain fixed
dren.
in his mind, others can know his tri- I
Long before the terrorists struck
America, Roth made almost prescient S umph over tragedy by seeing the num- a
bet fixed onto his arm, part of the pic-
comments on the Holocaust
ture that will be shown in the exhibit. $,
Memorial Center video describing his
"Most of us are older now, and
life: "We must be on guard as to what
these pictures will be a good way for
is happening around us since [terrible
the next generation to have a strong
things] can also happen here if we are
reminder of what happened," he says.
not vigilant."

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Before Ebi Centeri faced the horrors
wrought by the Nazis, she faced anti-
Semitism, readily expressed in the
small Hungarian village where her
family lived as the only Jews. Other
little girls did not want to sit near her
in school because she was Jewish.
After the Nazis came to Hungary, she
had to move to a ghetto and then the
camps, ultimately doing forced labor in
a bomb factory. One of nine children,
she was among only five remaining
after the war. Still vivid is her sister's
decision to stay with their mother in a
camp line, both never seen again.
"We were so scared when they came
to our house and took us away," she
-
remembers. "We didn't think what
could happen, but I always had the
feeling I would be coming home. I was
strong and young and wanted to live."
Centeri was liberated by the
Russians and went back to live in
Hungary, the country she knew.
Conditions during the revolution in
1956, a time of open street-fighting,
finally caused her to leave.
"Everybody from the time of the
Holocaust has a story, and in many
ways, it's the same story," says this
Southfield resident, always proud of the
achievements of her children and grand-
children. "It's very important to listen."
Listening is what Centeri does twice
a week as a Menorah House volunteer.
She has befriended many people there
and likes to bring them treats — baked
goods for some and fresh fruit for those
who have to stay away from sugar.
Thinking of the terrorist destruction in
the same vein as the Nazi horrors, Centeri
says, "I still don't know how those people
can think the way that they do."

Michael Weiss, from Czechoslovakia,
says his Holocaust experiences are
chiseled into his mind and heart,
starting with the yellow stars Jews
were forced to wear after the Nazis
came to power.
He was 17 when he was taken away
to the ghetto before being sent to
Auschwitz on a cattle car without food.
"I was afraid to look at the soldiers,"
says Weiss, separated from family
members and not able to say goodbye.
"I thought they were subhuman."
Weiss was sent to a factory experi-
menting with making gasoline out of
coal. The work was very hard and
many people died from it. He saw
other camps before he was liberated
by the Americans and sent to live
with other displaced persons.
Weiss credits the American- Jewish
Joint Distribution Committee for
helping him work toward a decent life
in the United States, where he was
able to move with a visa sent by an
aunt.
Weiss, who now lives in Oak Park,
was married in Austria and again after
becoming a widower in America.
Both women were named Lily.
As Weiss watches news about
attacks on America, he compares the
training of Hitler Youth to the train-
ing of today's terrorists.
"I did a lot of praying during World
War II," says Weiss, comparing the
atrocities of the past to the ones cur-
rently being faced.
"Whether the person is named
Pharaoh, Hitler or bin Laden, the
hatred is the same, but we're fighting
back very strongly now. God bless
America, and God bless Israel."

