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Never Give Up Hope
Red Cross uses worldwide networks
to track Holocaust information.
Question: I'm always on the
of the local Shaarit Haplaytah survi-
vors' organization. "I had a big family;
most went to Auschwitz and no one
came out. There might be a spark of
hope, but I don't believe it. I had a false
alarm before when they thought they
found my sister in either Toronto or
Johannesburg. It was a neighbor with
the same name."
Still, she had a stack of Red Cross
forms and wants to keep trying to find
out what she can.
Information Networks
"Most people don't know the Red Cross
does tracing;' Klein said. "It goes back
to founder Clara Barton, who went to
wounded soldiers during the Civil War
and collected messages to deliver. She
visited the gravesites of those who had
been killed and let families know."
The Geneva Conventions, she
explained, charged Red Cross societies
to do tracing during times of conflict
and disaster. The Tracing Center was
Ruth Holcman Lehman, right, of Oak Park gets help filling out her Red Cross
founded in 1990, after the release of
forms from her daughter, Betty Baker of Huntington Woods.
World War II documents from the
former Soviet Union (FSU). The center
operates with only a few paid staff members and 100 volun-
Keri Guten Cohen
teers.
Story Development Editor
Inquiries start at the local Red Cross chapter level, then
they are sent the world over in the quest for information.
uth Holcman Lehman sits with her daughter, Betty
Baker, filling out forms that may lead to information Inquiries may go directly to a specific country, even a specific
village, where Red Cross staff or volunteers dig for informa-
about family members lost in the Holocaust.
tion. Many requests go to the International Tracing Service in
They came to the Holocaust Memorial Center in
Farmington Hills May 18 to hear Linda Kaufman Klein, direc- Bad Arolsen, Germany, the largest repository of original Nazi
documents — 46 million and more than 17 million names
tor of the American Red Cross Holocaust and War Victims
— in the world. These documents, often copies of originals,
Tracing Center in Baltimore. They, like most of the 60 others
are being scanned and shared, with the project to be corn-
in the auditorium, had unanswered questions. What hap-
pleted in 2010 or 2011.
pened to a precious mother in a liquidated ghetto? What was
When information is found for an inquiry, which usually
the fate of a 2-year-old sister transported to Auschwitz with
takes six to eight weeks, it is always delivered in person with
an older sibling?
opportunity for a debriefing — often a retelling of a person's
Haunting questions — the kind that cause ongoing night-
Holocaust story.
mares for survivors who have no answers.
Since 1990, more than 1,300 cases have resulted in live
Ruth Holcman Lehman is such a survivor. A native of Lodz,
reunions. In more than 12,000 cases, clients have received
Poland, she was 18 when the war broke out. She lived in the
confirmation of death or deportation of family members.
ghetto with her family until 1944, when she was shipped to
More that 1,200 cases have led to documentation regard-
Auschwitz. At some point, she was transferred to Bergen-
ing proof of forced labor, slave labor, forced evacuation from
Belsen, where she survived until she was liberated in 1945.
FSU territories or internment, which allows people to submit
She ended up in Sweden, where she met her first husband,
an older man from Lodz who had lost his wife and children in claims for restitution.
"This is of the utmost urgency now as survivors are aging
the Holocaust. While in Sweden, she filled out Red Cross trac-
and dying;' Klein said. "You never know unless you try." ❑
ing forms and ended up being reunited with her two younger
brothers who were in Germany. They followed her to America,
For Red Cross tracing forms, call the Holocaust Memorial Center
and both died here.
at (248) 553-2400 or the American Red Cross of Southeastern
"I came today to see how and what happened to my
Michigan at (313) 833-4440.
mother, uncle, sister:' said Lehman, 86, of Oak Park, secretary
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and visit the nearest
locations at:
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12 Mile & Northwestern
248.945.0090
Elizabeth Price
10 Mile & Evergreen
248.948.5000
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248.253.1400
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May 29 • 2008
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