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Guest Column
Editorial
Innovative Thinking
Helps Shul To Thrive
W
Brothers Sam, Nathan and Bernard Offen with their books at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Brothers who survived Holocaust sign their
memoirs together against vivid backdrop.
R
ounding the corner of the Hall of
Remembrance at the U.S. Holocaust
Museum in Washington, D.C., visitors
were pleasantly startled to see three survivors
together — all brothers.
As if it wasn't enough to have three brothers
survive the Holocaust, all wrote books about
their experiences and were appearing
together for the first time to sign their
books and share their history with the
world.
The Offen brothers, like all
Holocaust survivors, have had amaz-
ing, almost unbelievable stories of
horror and triumph. Born in Krakow,
Poland, they lost more than 50 mem-
bers of their family to the Nazis.
They were incarcerated in the
Krakow Ghetto, then in Plashov
(the German concentration camp
in the movie Schindler's List). Sam
and Nathan survived Gusen and were liberated
from Mauthausen. Bernard was liberated from
Auschwitz. All three brothers became lucky sur-
vivors.
The brothers, after living in London, came to
America in 1951, building careers and families.
Sam, the oldest, now age 91, became a well-
known furrier in Birmingham. Middle brother
Nathan, 89, worked in the garment industry in
New York. And youngest brother Bernard , 83,
became a mechanic and also owned a laundry in
Detroit.
But it wasn't until the 1980s that the brothers
started speaking out about their experiences.
Sam was asked by the late Rabbi Charles
Rosenzveig to talk to groups at the Holocaust
Memorial Center when it was in West
Bloomfield. In 2005, he decided to write a book
When Hope Prevails. Now, seven years later and
with more than 5,000 copies sold, Sam is a fre-
quent speaker at the Holocaust museums here in
Farmington Hills and also in Washington. He has
donated hundreds of his books to the
local Holocaust museum and all pro-
ceeds have benefited it.
He travels to many Michigan
schools to educate students about the
Holocaust. He also speaks to libraries,
book clubs and all three shifts at the
Cadillac auto plant. His book is avail-
able at the Holocaust Memorial Center
in Farmington Hills and online via
ggoffen@yahoo.com .
Bernard and Nathan decided to
write their stories as well. In 2008,
Bernard published My Hometown
Concentration Camp. Nathan penned his memoir
To Life in 2009.
The three Offen brothers — Sam lives in
West Bloomfield, Bernard lives in Krakow and
Nathan lives in Port Washington, N.Y. — dis-
cussed appearing together at the U.S. Holocaust
Museum. Finally, on May 24, it happened. The
reaction was amazing and varied. Some visitors
wept, some wanted to hug all the brothers; many
bought all three books. Lots of photos were
taken and children wanted their autographs.
Holocaust survivors being treated like rock stars:
Now that was wonderful.
❑
Gail Offen, Sam's daughter, is a Hartland resident.
ith a sagging state economy, slow real estate
market and declining Jewish population,
Metro Detroit synagogues have to think
prudently and creatively in locating their house of
worship and learning. Such is the case with Ahavas
Olam Weingarden Torah Center, which is exchanging its
shtiebel roots for the unlikely surroundings of a retail
strip center.
Following purchase and renovation, both donor paid,
the growing Orthodox shul will relocate to one of the
buildings at New Orleans Mall at 10 Mile and Greenfield
in Southfield, home to enough young Orthodox families
to make the move worthwhile.
Ahavas Olam is buying the building and will lease
beyond its current need of 10,000 square feet – a ben-
eficial business arrangement and great way to help fill
some of the vacant space in the aging shopping center.
Further, the enlarged synagogue catering to men,
women and children is bound to bring new families to
Southfield, improving the city's tax base and stabiliz-
ing the area. Outside Michigan, Southfield is recognized
as an attractive place for young Orthodox families
looking to settle within the Detroit Jewish community.
The investment should pay off quickly in the form of
increased Shabbat morning attendance, which now
stands at nearly 100 in the men's section.
Rabbi Simcha Klein, President Gabi Grossbard and
all Ahavas Olam congregants are following their hearts
and, in the process, are sure to enrich their souls. ❑
Behind Palestinian
Economic Duress
I
is financial crisis and political instability have left the
Palestinian Authority currently unfit for statehood,
a dramatic departure from its position a year ago,
according to a World Bank report. "While the Palestinian
Authority has had considerable success in building the
institutions of a future state, it has made less progress in
developing a sustainable economic base," according to the
July 25 report.
The World Bank in part blames Israel's defensive pres-
ence in the West Bank with hindering Palestinian growth
through constraints on the free flow of people and goods
and in part on the lack of a diverse economy.
The Palestinian Economic Policy Research Institute
blames the stagnant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks on
hamstringing the Palestinians' Gross Domestic Product
(GDP), now $1,500 per capita. The CIA Factbook esti-
mates Palestinian joblessness at 23.5 percent. In com-
parison, the Israel GDP is $31,400 and its unemployment
rate is 5.6 percent.
The West Bank economy has been aided somewhat by
a burgeoning high-tech sector, Israel's removal of hun-
dreds of barriers and roadblocks, and Israel's allowing
the Palestinians to collect some taxes directly.
But that economy has been stressed after years of
modest growth by Palestinian Authority hatred of Israel
running so deep that Ramallah leaders have forsaken
their people's pursuit for legitimate statehood. 0
September 6 • 2012
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