Miracle Of Miracles
I j an. 27 marked the 65th anniversary
of the liberation of Auschwitz-
Birkenau, the largest Nazi Germany
death camp. The U.N. General Assembly
in 2005 designated this day International
Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD) to
honor the victims of the Holocaust and to
develop educational programs to help pre-
vent future acts of genocide.
That night, a unique photo album
exhibit came to the Holocaust Memorial
Center in Farmington Hills, helping to
commemorate the liberation of the death
camp. "The Auschwitz Album: The Story
of a Transport" displayed amazing pictures
found by young prisoner Lili Jacob, which
were taken of the arrival of a transport of
Hungarian Jews at Auschwitz.
Four days later, Nicholas D. Kristof
reported in the New York Times about a
civil war in eastern Congo which, he wrote,
"is the most lethal conflict since World
War II and has claimed at least 30 times
as many lives as the Haiti earthquake"
("Orphaned, Raped and Ignored," Jan. 31).
He wrote how millions in Africa have been
slaughtered by Hutu militia, only to face a
"pathetic international response
While I could hardly believe or stomach
the devastating brutality of genocide on
the other side of the world, I realized the
hidden meaning of the Auschwitz Album,
photos that were hidden for years, which
will be displayed at the Holocaust Memorial
Center through April 18. I thought, if we
could only see those types of photos sent
young friend through the barbed
via e-mail, Facebook or from
wire, "like God had sent an angel
journalists in the Congo, we
to look after me',' ("Love and
might be jarred enough to
hope in Her Adele Horn, Sydney
stop the rapes and murders
Morning Herald, Dec. 12, 2009).
that are hidden from us.
Kalmek smuggled a pillow,
Feeling gloom from a
blanket and food for Renate.
world that still hides some
And when they were both trans-
of its darkest secrets, I knew
ported to the Pionki labor camp
how important it was to
in the middle of a bitter winter,
keep searching for some-
he found leather to put on the
Arni e
thing uplifting. One of those
souls of her shoes to ease her trek
Goldm an
moments showed up in an
through snow to the ammunition
Commu nity
email from the U.S. Holocaust
factory where she worked. Mahler
View
Memorial Museum ("A 65-
was
even able to smuggle with the
Year Search Ends in a Tearful
help
of
others
a present for Renate of an
Reunion',' www.ushmm.org, Feb. 1, 2010)
angora
jumper,
boots and a skirt.
about a young boy and girl who fell in love
Renate
and
Kalmek
promised each
in the most horrifying of settings.
other
that
they
would
marry
if they sur-
When a young girl's parents were
vived
but
in
early
1945,
they
were both
deported from Poland's Tarnow ghetto,
sent
on
separate
death
marches.
Renate
15-year-old Renate Abend was left all
survived
a
final
death
march
to
Bergen-
alone. In a soup line, she met 19-year-old
Belsen before the allied liberation and was
Kalmek Mahler, whose job was to keep
evacuated to Sweden and then settled in
order in the soup kitchen; and he made
Belgium, where she was married, assum-
sure Renate's bowl was filled first. Later,
ing Kalmek Mahler was dead. After her
when she got a finger infection and then
first husband died, she moved to Australia
an amputation, Mahler found a hiding
place for her, so Renate wouldn't be shot or and re-married, had children and grand-
transported. He hid her in the ceiling of an children and lived happily for 35 years
abandoned shop where he would bring her until her husband's death.
A few months ago, Renate Grossman's
food and a latrine bucket.
daughter Helen and granddaughter
Renate now remembers that after being
Michelle, looking for information about her
deported to the Plaszow forced labor
grandmother for a high school project, trav-
camp and thinking she would never find
eled from Australia to the U.S. Holocaust
Kalmek again, she stood in the middle of
Memorial
Museum in Washington, D.C.
the Plaszow labor camp and glimpsed her
With the help of a Registry specialist comb-
ing extensive historical records, they found
Renate's first love, Kalmek Mahler, on a list
of survivors. He had changed his name to
Carl and was now living in Canada. The
museum contacted Carl who was thrilled
to learn that his first love had survived.
Renate, who cannot fly because of her "bad
legs," learned from her son how to use a
computer and use Skype so she could com-
municate with Carl.
She laughed, "Of course I had in mind a
19-year-old ... tall, good looking and full
of go; and when I saw him on the comput-
er, well, he was an old bald man." But, she
recalled, "he started to cry and I started to
cry ... he said I was still beautiful as ever."
And most importantly, Renate says, she is
"very happy to have found him when he
is alive to be able to thank him for saving
my life."
In a world that is still filled with too
much hatred and genocide, we need
to treasure the few survivors left from
the Holocaust. As I quietly roamed
the Zekelman Family Campus of our
Holocaust Memorial Center and witnessed
the still photos of so many Jews who were
to be brutally murdered, I couldn't help
but imagine two young lovers surviv-
ing and finding each other 65 years later,
speaking across two sides of the world on
an Internet connection, their faith restored
in the possibility of miracles.
❑
Arnie Goldman is a Farmington Hills resident.
Supporting Ethical Guidelines
New York
T
he word "kosher" entered the
English language generations
ago, but it has acquired a split
personality. Dictionary.com offers two
definitions: One, under "Judaism," defines
it as "fit or allowed to be eaten or used,
according to the dietary or ceremonial
laws." Another, under "Informal," defines it
as "proper; legitimate'
To be sure, the dichotomy is not accu-
rate; every agency that supervises food to
ensure it is "fit or allowed to be eaten or
used, according to the dietary or ceremo-
nial laws" has its own standards for decent
conduct in its production. Nonetheless, the
gap is greater than it should be; the stan-
dards are not always consistent and apply-
ing them has not been a priority. As a
result, the kosher symbol does not always
adequately assure that the producer's con-
duct is "proper and legitimate."
tion of kosher supervision
Having carefully surveyed
in recent years. Generations
the situation, the Rabbinical
ago, kosher supervision was
Council of America (RCA), the
a tiny cottage industry, cater-
U.S.'s largest organization of
ing almost exclusively to
Orthodox rabbis, is calling for
observant Jews. In 2010, the
all kosher supervision agencies
most prominent supervision
to adopt consistent, transparent
agencies are large and highly
and effective standards for ethi-
professional, and supervise
cal conduct for themselves and
close to 100,000 products for
for the producers they supervise.
Rabbi Asher
a broad constituency. This
The essence of the RCA initiative
Meir
expanded role implies an
is that kosher approval should be
Special
expanded responsibility.
denied to a producer known to
Commentary
Years ago, even most large
be engaged in serious miscon-
corporations did not institute
duct, particularly legal violations
formal ethical standards. Currently, best
in the area of health and safety, honesty
practice for large corporations, especially
to the consumer and animal suffering. An
those with a significant public face, is to
expert task force has issued guidelines
adopt explicit policies for ethical conduct
for a model ethics policy and additional
within the entity and in its relationship
materials to help supervising groups
with other stakeholders.
adopt such guidelines.
Today's kosher agencies should be at
We feel that this updated approach is
least as "kosher" as comparably developed
necessary because of the vast transforma-
corporations. An additional development
is the deepening of the tie between the
kosher supervisor and the corporation.
This is no longer a formal, arm's-length
relationship; major supervision agencies
describe their connection with corpora-
tions as a "partnership." Jewish tradition
dictates, and common sense confirms, that
your partner's behavior reflects upon you.
To cite an ancient Jewish parable: "One
who enters a tannery, even without touch-
ing anything, still bears the smell." An
additional significant development is
the non-observant kosher consumer. A
recent New York Times article cited a study
estimating that "Only about 15 percent of
people who buy kosher do it for religious
reasons."
Many supervision agencies have come
to target the non-observant market, adver-
tising the fact that many kosher consum-
ers are interested in aspects of kosher food
besides the Jewish dietary laws. Based on
Guidelines on page 20
February 18 • 2010
19