Metro Moving Up Horror Eyewitness HMC exhibits German soldier's photographs of the Warsaw Ghetto. Robyn GoreII Special to the Jewish News y I t was his birthday and Wehrmacht Sgt. Heinz Jost decided to spend that September 1941 day doing something different. Defying strict regulations, he went exploring the Warsaw Ghetto, tak- ing his camera with him. What he saw fascinated and horrified him. Carefully, so as not to attract attention, he took photographs — illegally — of the scenes revealed before his eyes: the street life, beggars, children, the dead and the burials. Deeply moved, Joost returned to his barracks, hiding those pictures from his fellow soldiers. He apparently was so dis- turbed by the experience that he kept the photos concealed from everyone, includ- ing his wife and family, for more than 40 years. A traveling exhibit of 85 of those photos, "A Day in the Warsaw Ghetto: A Birthday Trip in Hell;' will be on display at the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus beginning Dec. 12 and running through March 13. The exhibition is co-sponsored by the Workmen's Circle/ Arbeter Ring. A grand opening will be held at 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 12, with featured speaker, historian Samuel Kassow. In 1982, Jost gave his collection of 129 photos to Gunther Schwarberg, editor of Stern magazine. In 1987, Schwarberg pre- sented them to Israel's Yad Vashem, where curators selected those for this exhibit. They depict the diversity of conditions, including people who are starving and ill, newcomers still thriving, illegal schools, people praying together and book peddlers plying their trade amidst death and disease. Passages from original diaries written by ghetto residents provide historical context and complement the photographs. Originally, the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service circulated the exhibit throughout the United States. Jost explained to Schwarberg his obser- vations of what the photos portrayed. These comments were turned into captions. He described the picture of the two young children shown here as, "I can't say what street this was on. They were sitting around everywhere, these starving children beg- ging for a little money:' The Warsaw Ghetto was destroyed 19 months after the photos were shot. By then, the already horrendous conditions had deteriorated further. An Oak Park resident, Abram Shain, grew 20 December 9 • 2010 New program trains leaders. oung Detroit-area socially engaged Jewish residents will have an opportunity to make a real difference in their community through a new leadership development program being initiated by Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ). The 18-monthlong niF leadership and man- agement program is being launched in partnership with the University of Michigan's Jewish Communal Leadership Michael Program. Maddin Funded by a $153,000 grant from the Detroit Jewish community's Jewish Fund, the Detroit Area Community Leadership Initiative will help participants identify, develop and Simon Greer implement a long- term project helping vulnerable indi- viduals improve conditions across the Detroit area. Applications for interested participants will be available at jew- ishjustice.org beginning Dec.13. "The Jewish Fund has studied this program for several years, including its accomplishments elsewhere and its capacity for similar success in Detroit:' said Michael Maddin, chair of the Jewish Fund. "Following many meetings with their senior staff, defining and refining their stated goals and activities to be imple- mented in our community, we believe it has the potential to serve as a catalyst for numerous positive impacts upon the city, which align well with the mission of the Jewish Fund." "We believe that the Jewish commu- nity can, and should, play a lead role in rebuilding Detroit into a strong, healthy and vibrant community," said Simon Greer, president and CEO of Jewish Funds for Justice. "We believe the initiative our participants will set into motion will con- tinue to reap benefits for Detroit's most vulnerable, year after year." Working across Jewish denomina- tions, JFSJ seeks to create a just, fair and compassionate America by transforming the way Jews do social justice. In fiscal year 2010, JFSJ developed 1,500 leaders and strengthened 500 organizations. . Av. "This woman stood with closed eyes in front of a wall of tattered posters announcing a symphony concert with Szymon Pullman in the concert hall at Rymarska 12 and a program at the Cafe Ogrod in Nowolipki Street 36. She was selling padded armbands with the Star of David on them, which every Jew was required to wear. She looked as though she was about to topple over and die the next moment." - Sgt. Heinz Jost up in Warsaw, but ran away with two friends at age 17, not long before the rest of his family was forced into the Warsaw Ghetto. His family was transported sub- sequently to concentration camps where most perished. Shain eventually made his way to the Soviet Union, working first in a labor camp, before finding employ- ment as a barber. He returned briefly to Warsaw, his birthplace in 1957. "Hitler robbed me of my family," he told a Polish resident who asked him why he was screaming and crying in the street. Today, he still searches for the brother he believes may have survived. The launch of the exhibit coincides with the opening of the Holocaust Memorial Center's art gallery and temporary exhibi- tions area. This has been carved out of former storage areas and features 1,500 square feet of uninterrupted floor space with an entry area, state-of-the art light- ing, moveable interior walls, acoustic treatment and a structural roof grid where exhibit materials can be hung. For more information, hours and admission, call (248) 553-2400 or visit www.holocaustcenter.org. The museum is closed on Saturdays. ❑ "l can't say what street this was on. They were sitting around everywhere, these starving children begging for a little money." - Sgt. Heinz Jost ❑