EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK
Touched By Her Soul
H
"She and her mother were put into concentration camps
and she literally and figuratively shlepped her mother along
with her until the end of the war. Two times, they were with-
in minutes of being murdered by the Nazis, but were saved
both times," Dr. Millstone says.
She made a vow to dig deep into her soul and never leave a
child in distress. After the war, she married Zeev Birger and
immigrated to Israel with her husband and mother.
In the 1960s, working with needy children as a microbiol-
ogist, Mrs. Birger saw the suffering that severe dental prob-
lems can cause. She identified with the kids; as a 7-year-old,
she lost teeth when a Nazi death camp guard hit her.
olocaust survivor Trudi Birger was a friend and
hero to Dr. Samuel Millstone, a Farmington Hills
dentist. And what she did over a quarter century to
help Israel's poorest children, whatever their reli-
gion, will burn brightly in his memory bank .of service as a
dental volunteer in the Jewish state.
"There are literally thousands of people in the world, and
especially in Israel, who owe her memory a debt of gratitude
for her tireless efforts and activities on behalf of their health
and welfare," writes Dr. Millstone in a reminiscence of the
microbiologist-turned-volunteer. Mrs. Birger, who died in
Helping Hand
July, embraced Israel's neediest kids, those
In 1978, Mrs. Birger founded DVI on a shoestring budget.
who could not afford private dental care.
Today, her six-chair dental and oral hygiene clinic in
Her story is heartrending.
Jerusalem serves 200 kids four mornings a week. Over the
I received a copy of Dr. Millstone's testi-
years, the clinic has treated 80,000 children ages 5-18, thanks
monial to her 10 days ago — between the
to the outreach of 3,000 volunteers.
54th anniversary of Kristallnach4 the
English-speaking Israeli dental assistants and hygienists pair
German-imposed Night of Broken Glass
with volunteer dentists who donate their services for up to
and trigger for the Holocaust, on Nov. 9-10,
four weeks. The volunteers, representing 13 countries, pay
1938, and the start of Chanukah, the eight-
their way to Israel but stay free in apartments rented by DVI.
ROBERT A. day Festival of Lights celebrating Jewish free-
Qualified volunteers, including specialists, are always sought
S KLAR
dom from religious
(e-mail: dvi@internet-zahay.net)
Editor
persecution.
As a result of the intifada, most
Our Chanukah
patients at the clinic today are Jewish.
issue seems a perfect time to share
But Muslim and Christian kids are
Mrs. Birger's story, as told by one of
welcome. Hamas, the radical Islamic
her admirers. Dr. Millstone, 70, retired
group, has pressured Muslims to go to
from private practice in 1997 and
Hamas-approved clinics instead.
immediately joined Mrs. Birger's
Dr. Millstone says a big part of
Dental Volunteers for Israel. He
DVI's modern facilities, equipped by
learned about DVI two years before at
dental supply makers, is teaching chil-
a dinner hosted by Alpha Omega, the
dren and their parents proper dental
largely Jewish dental fraternity. He
hygiene and good nutrition. Ninety-
served in the program for two weeks
five percent of DVI's costs are paid
during 1999, 2000 and 2001.
through
private donations; the Israeli
Dr. Sam Millstone with Israeli patients.
In the wake of the intifada, the 26
government pays the rest.
month-long Palestinian uprising that has
Focused, enthusiastic and zealous,
targeted Israeli bus lines, Dr. Millstone
Mrs. Birger took no pay as founder and administrative direc-
says he'll go back as soon as the terrorism threat diminishes.
tor of DVI. The clinic was her life — her gift to the Jewish
"I'm a little concerned right now since DVI volunteers travel
homeland.
by bus," the .dentist says.
"It was hard but satisfying work," Dr. Millstone says. "We
Meanwhile, he has raised $1,000 for the clinic over the last
must take care of our own — and it didn't seem that anyone
few weeks.
else was there for poor Jewish kids with bad teeth. Without
The opportunity to serve DVI has been a godsend, says the
us, these kids don't have anybody."
member of Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township. "I was-
Besides equipment and supplies, the clinic receives dona-
n't prepared to feel as great as I did taking care of those little
tions of time or money from dentists and others, including
kids. Just knowing I was providing a service for kids so bone
Jews and Christians alike.
poor, who needed treatment so badly and that there was
Plaudits flowed for Mrs. Birger's good deeds — plaques of
nobody else to give it to them, made me feel so very good."
honor, certificates of recognition, letters of gratitude. Says Dr.
His yen for public service dates back to 1958-60, when he
Millstone: "They came from prime ministers, organizations,
went to South Dakota as a U.S. public service officer. He was
governments and others."
the only dentist for 4,000 Native Americans of the Cheyenne
In 1991, Mrs. Birger was named a Worthy of Jerusalem
River Tribe on the Sioux Nation reservation.
winner. It's no surprise that her legacy will continue at the
That followed a one-year dental internship at the former
newly renamed Trudi Birger Dental Clinic.
Sinai Hospital of Detroit.
Mrs. Birger died of a heart attack while visiting family in
the coastal city of Ashkelon. Besides her husband, she left
Fateful Encounter
sons Doron, Oded and Gil and their families, including nine
Trudi Simon Birger was born to privileged parents in
grandchildren. "It is a great loss for the people of Jerusalem
Frankfurt, Germany, in 1927. The central European country
and many, many others," says Dr. Millstone.
then had a thriving Jewish community.
Sam Millstone says he won't forget Trudi Birger, or the
"When World War II started, her father was shot by the
esteem-boosting
smiles her good work gave thousands of less-
Nazis while trying to hide a group of children," Dr. Millstone
fortunate
children
who call Israel home.
relates, drawing from A Daughter's Gift of Love, Mrs. Birger's
Mrs.
Birger
understandably
is his hero, but Dr. Millstone
book, written with Jeffrey Green, about surviving the
— a master practitioner of the Jewish ideal of tikkun olam, of
Holocaust (Jewish Publication-Society; $15.95).
healing the world — is a mentsh.
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11/29
2002
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