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Obituaries from page 60

HAROLD L. TOBIN, 89,
of Boca Raton, Fla., died
May 2, 2016.
He is survived by his
sons and daughters-
in-law, Steven Tobin,
Mark and Billie Tobin,
David and Dawn Tobin;
Tobin
daughter and son-in-
law, Beverly and Max
Gottesman; brothers and
sisters-in-law, Morton Tobin, Marshall and
Rhoda Tobin; sister and brother-in-law,
Florence and Donald Nitzken; nine grand-
children; six great-grandchildren; many
loving nieces, nephews, other family mem-
bers and friends.
Mr. Tobin was the beloved husband of
the late Ruth Tobin; brother of the late
Albert (the late Virginia) Tobin; brother-
in-law of the late Diane Tobin.
Contributions may be made to Yad Ezra
or to a charity of one’s choice. Interment
took place at Clover Hill Park Cemetery in
Birmingham. Arrangements by Dorfman
Chapel.

Survivors’ Memories

Luke Tress and Brandon Berry | Times of Israel

E

arlier this week, a crowd gath-
ered in a chic apartment up four
flights of stairs on Ben Yehuda
street in Tel Aviv. The hosts laid drinks
and snacks out on a table as the sun set
over the Mediterranean behind them.
The crowd of 37 packed into the liv-
ing room to hear the testimony of Polish
Holocaust survivor Jerry Aviram as
part of a series of events called Zikaron
BaSalon, or “Living Room Memories.”
The volunteer-run initiative matches hosts
with survivors who share their stories in
an intimate home setting.
Most of the organization’s events
take place on the eve of Holocaust
Remembrance Day, held this year on May
5. The program has grown steadily since it
started six years ago. This year, organizers
estimated 500,000 people would attend
events in 6,000 locations in Israel and
abroad.
Aviram, 82, dressed in a crisp white
button-down and gray slacks, started his
story describing his hometown, a small
community called Grodna in Poland. He

survived the war with his par-
and other Holocaust literature
ents in Russia, largely due to a
and other subjects.
fortuitous personal connection
He then joined his family
with an officer in the Russian
in the audience as the group
military. Their other relatives
sang “Flower” by Yehuda
did not survive.
Poliker, and “As If You Are
Aviram later moved to
Here” by Eran Eliezer, accom-
Chicago, then immigrated to
panied by an acoustic guitar.
Israel in the 1950s, making his
Host Natalie Seeff read the
home in Tel Aviv.
short story “The Key Game”
Holocaust survivor
Unlike most speakers at
by Ida Fink about two parents
Jerry Aviram tells his
Zikaron BaSalon events,
using a game to train their
story in a Tel Aviv
Aviram gave his testimony
child to stall for time if the
living room.
in English. At the beginning,
Nazis came for the father. She
everyone in the audience said
then read the “The Miracle
who they were and where they came from on Dan Bus #4” — a story of a mother
— Israel, the United States, Costa Rica,
and son meeting by chance after the
Chile, the Czech Republic and elsewhere.
Holocaust on a Tel Aviv bus, a few blocks
There were native Israelis, new and vet-
from the hosts’ apartment, in 1951. Both
eran immigrants to Israel, tourists and
thought the other was killed in the war.
Aviram’s family.
At the end of the evening, Seeff present-
The rapt audience listened to Aviram
ed Aviram with a certificate from Zikaron
speak for almost an hour. After his story,
BaSalon. Everyone in the audience signed
he fielded questions on Holocaust educa-
the certificate, writing their thanks, their
tion in Israel, anti-Semitism before the
names, and where they came from.
war, his reaction to Elie Wiesel’s books

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62 May 12 • 2016