obituaries
'Resiliency Of The Human Spirit'
Shelli Liebman Dorfman
I Contributing Writer
I
lona Berk combined her strong will
and immense compassion into a life-
time of perseverance and gratitude
for being alive.
A Holocaust survivor who aided in the
survival of others, she became a wife and
mother and turned a passionate talent
into a career in dress design.
Mrs. Berk died Dec. 6, 2013, in
Omaha, Neb., at age 95.
Born Aug. 24, 1918, in Czechoslovakia
to Jacob and Hana Dorenter, she was a
member of Hadassah and Congregation
Tifereth Israel in Lincoln, Neb., where
she lived for most of her life.
"Her story is quite remarkable," said
her son, Jim Berk, of West Bloomfield,
a longtime sports reporter and achor on
Detroit television and radio. "She lost
three siblings in the death camps; two at
Auschwitz. She was the oldest of those
who survived."
Mrs. Berk endured with a take-charge
attitude.
At Auschwitz, as her group, includ-
ing her mother, were approaching Josef
Mengele after arriving on the Hungarian
transport in May 1944, Mom had an
injured ankle and was walking with a
cane," said her son.
"She threw away the cane to be accept-
able for Mengele. She told her younger
sister Zisele, 20, to walk straight. Zisele
had a shorter leg so she walked with a
limp. Mengele looked all of them over
and said, 'To the right, meaning tempo-
rary safety and forced labor.
"A few moments later, Zisele started
limping again. Mengele turned around
and saw this and then said, 'To the left:
That's the last time my mom saw her
younger sister, sent immediately to the
gas"
Mrs. Berk spent time in five different
labor and concentration camps, being
moved from Auschwitz to Bergen-Belsen
to Braunschweig
to Beendorf to
Ochsenzoll, often
intervening and car-
ing for others.
"When one
woman was dying
and needed food,
Mom took a potato
from her own moth-
Ilona Berk
er and gave it to this
woman:' said her
son. "Someone else complained, saying,
`How can you take food from your own
mother?' Mom answered, 'Because this
woman needed it more:"
Still, she took care of her mother.
"Mom hid her in the barracks under
blankets during roll calls, moving her
around when needed, and that saved her
mother's life for sure," said Jim.
Resourceful, Mrs. Berk was able to get
a letter to a man in authority at one of
the camps — someone she knew before
arriving there — who arranged for her,
her sisters and her mother to take a train
to temporary safety.
"Ilona was the prime example of the
resiliency of the human spirit," said
Nancy Coren, lay leader at Tifereth
Israel, who officiated at Mrs. Berk's
funeral service. "She never gave up
hope."
Dress Designer
After the war, at a weight of 55 pounds,
Mrs. Berk recuperated in a Swedish
hospital for five months and then fol-
lowed her calling to become a dress
designer.
"She began sewing at an early age
in Czechoslovakia, and after the war
she began her
dress designing
career, working
in Paris and New
York with many
seamstresses
under her direc-
tion," Jim said.
In December
1952, she vaca-
tioned in Miami
Beach. The hotel where she had a reser-
vation was overbooked and she ended
up at the Sovereign, meeting Sam Berk,
originally from Grand Rapids, but liv-
ing and working in Lincoln. "They met
on the beach, fell in love and were mar-
ried three months later, in March 1953,"
her son said.
"Mom settled with Dad in Lincoln,
where she designed dresses, held the
biggest fashion shows with her designs
and made dresses for various affluent
clients, charging at one time, as much
as $3,000 for a dress. Had Dad lived on
either coast — New York or LA — I'm
convinced Mom would have been a top
designer, up with the Diors and Calvin
Kleins. She was that talented:'
Mrs. Berk participated regularly in
Holocaust-related programming as does
her son.
"She was so proud of my work as
a docent at the Holocaust Memorial
Center in Farmington Hills," Jim said.
"The fact that she lived is a miracle.
And that I am alive is a double miracle,
leading me to find my passion to talk
there:'
Remarkably, during his training at
the Holocaust Center, Jim said he saw
something that "made my heart beat
fast and almost caused me to faint. It
was a photo of my mom in one of the
camps — a photo that I didn't know
existed?'
The picture is a part of a travel-
ing exhibit and is also included in the
Auschwitz Album collection of photos.
"At the Holocaust Center I tell my
mom's stories and show a laminated
copy of the photo of her arriving at
Auschwitz," said Jim.
Ilona Berk is survived by her son
and daughter-in-law, Jim and Beth
Berk of West Bloomfield; grandchil-
dren, George and Sarah; sisters, Ethel
Feuerstein, Rita Klein and Margaret
Havasi, all of Florida; numerous nieces
and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her
husband, Sam; brothers, Yidou and
Peretz; sisters, Idush and Zisele.
Interment was held at Greenwood
Cemetery, Grand Rapids.
Contributions may be made to
Congregation Tifereth Israel, 3219
Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502,
www.tiferethisraellincoln.org ;
Holocaust Memorial Center, 28123
Orchard Lake Road, Farmington Hills,
MI 48334, holocaustcenter.org; or to
a charity of one's choice. Condolences
may be left at www.bmlfh.com .
❑
Survivor And Philanthropist
M
orris Spitzer, 90, of Sault Ste.
Marie, died Dec. 11, 2013.
He was born and raised in
Maramores-Sziget, Transylvania, the
same village as his more famous cousin
Elie Weisel. During World War II, he
was a prisoner in a German forced
labor camp and survived the Holocaust.
After the war, he fled from
Communist-controlled Romania, even-
tually coming to the United States as
a refugee. Initially, he worked in the
garment industry in New York City, but
he later developed two companies that
50
December 19 • 2013
N
were involved in the early distribution
of powder-actuated construction tools
in the United States.
Mr. Spitzer was active in his
retirement in philanthropic
work and helped support the
Rambam-B'nai Zion hospital
in Haifa, Israel, and founded a
synagogue in Carmiel, Israel,
that is named in honor of his
parents, who perished in the
Dachau concentration camp
during the Holocaust.
His experiences during the Holocaust
Obituaries
were preserved in a recording by Steven
Spielberg as part of the Shoah project to
preserve the history of the survivors.
He was very fond of classi-
cal music, Broadway theater
and the arts. He lived in New
York and, in recent years, with
his son Robert in Michigan,
enjoyed strolling and bicycle
riding and visiting many
friends on Mackinac Island
during all the seasons of the
year.
Mr. Spitzer became a fundraiser for
Israel and a member of Congregation
B'nai Zion.
He is survived by his sons and
daughter-in-law, Dr. Robert Spitzer and
Lorretta Helwig, Jeffrey Spitzer; grand-
children, Daniel, Rivka, Sarah, Rachel,
Yael, Boaz, Benjamin.
Contributions may be made to
Kehillat Hatzav Hagadol Congregation,
7587 Market St., Mackinac Island, MI
49757. Interment was held at Clover
Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham.
Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial
Chapel.
❑