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CHAIM board: Top row, Henry Hirsch, David Oliwek, Charles Silow, Jay Kozlowski;
bottom row, Eva Kraus, Suzanne Sondheimer, Rosa Chessler, Evelyn Wecker Freeman.

Survivors’ Legacy

CHAIM to ‘gather the tribe’ for fun weekend.

Esther Allweiss Ingber | Contributing Writer

Marshall N. Cyrlin, M.D.

Glaucoma and Cataract Consultation
medical, laser, surgical therapy

Graduate:
Washington University School of Medicine,
St. Louis, MO
Internship:
Washington University, Barnes Jewish Hospital,
St. Louis, MO
Residency:
University of Illinois, Ill. Eye and Ear Infirmary,
Chicago, IL
Glaucoma Fellowship:
Harvard University, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary,
Boston, MA

Board Certified:
American Board of Ophthalmology
Member:
American Academy of Ophthalmology
Charter Member: American Glaucoma Society
Member:
American Society of Cataract
and Refractive Surgery

Attending Staff:
Sinai Huron Valley Hospital,
Commerce Township, MI
William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, MI

Dr. Cyrlin proudly announces the relocation
of his practice to Wayne State University
Physicians Group, Kresge Eye Institute at its
newly opened facility located at

26400 West 12 Mile Road, Suite 60
Southfield, MI 48034
248 263-2640

Appointments welcomed for new,
existing and former patients

22 June 9 • 2016

C

hildren of Holocaust survivors
(2Gs) gradually become aware
of having “different” families.
Their European-born parents exhibit
varying degrees of trauma.
As young adults, the 2Gs began
forming organizations for themselves.
The local group, since 1979, is CHAIM:
Children of Holocaust Survivors
Association in Michigan. The rising
generations of Holocaust survivors are
joining the 2Gs in planning social events
and carrying on the legacy of survivors
by maintaining a voice in the community
and interacting with each other.
CHAIM will present “Gathering of the
Tribe,” an event especially for Midwest-
based Holocaust survivors’ descendants
and spouses, on Sunday and Monday,
June 26-27. Partial financial support,
including five kosher meals, will come
from the George Garvil Memorial Fund,
named for a late CHAIM board member.
June 26 will be the busiest day, accord-
ing to CHAIM’s Dr. Charles Silow, founder
and continuing president. He directs the
Program for Holocaust Survivors and
Families for Jewish Senior Life in West
Bloomfield.
A tour of the Farmington Hills-based
Holocaust Memorial Center will include
seeing “Portraits of Honor,” a Silow-
initiated project featuring faces and biog-
raphies of local survivors.
“We’ll also have a discussion group
about our role as 2Gs and 3Gs for future
Holocaust remembrance and education,”
he said.
After the movie Deli Man, the group
will enjoy a deli dinner at Adat Shalom
Synagogue in Farmington Hills. Klezmer
music and dancing will follow. The high-
light on June 27 is visiting the Motown
Museum.
“It’s not really a reunion — more of
a gathering,” Silow said, calling it “an
opportunity for the next generations to
get to know one another in a more social
and relaxed manner.”
Silow and CHAIM were happy to get
the ball rolling after Judy Goldner-Moss

of Baltimore proposed the idea for a
get-together on Facebook. The former
Detroiter was inspired after learning of an
event for 2Gs in New York.
“We’re the last of the Mohicans who
can transfer over what happened to our
parents,” she said.
“Since I lost my parents, I feel more of
a need to connect with other children of
survivors,” said longtime CHAIM board
member Rosa Chessler of Southfield. Her
folks came from Kielce in Poland.
“The Midwest Gathering will be a good
chance to talk about what needs to be done
to continue the survivors’ legacy,” she said.
The late parents of CHAIM board
member Eva Kraus of West Bloomfield
were from Munkac in Czechoslovakia
(Hungary during the war). Kraus has
attended many conferences for children
of survivors that offer panels, speakers
and opportunities to socialize. The World
Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of
the Holocaust and Descendants holds its
28th annual international conference Nov.
4-7 in Los Angeles.
“It will be nice to have a gathering at
home and be involved with the planning,”
Kraus said. “I hope it will bring more
people from out of town.”
Kathy Halliburton of Southfield, born
in Budapest, came to the U.S. with her
family after the Hungarian Uprising of
1956. She has a 94-year-old mother.
“Thrilled” about attending her first
gathering, Halliburton said, “I’m hop-
ing to meet other 2Gs and share stories.
Maybe there will be someone there that
could even possibly be a relative.”

*

details

To register for the Midwest regional
“Gathering of the Tribe,” send a check
for $54 to CHAIM, c/o Holocaust
Memorial Center, 28123 Orchard Lake
Road, Farmington Hills, MI 48334. For
information, contact Dr. Charles Silow
at charlessilow@gmail.com or (248)
210-4849, or Rosa Chessler, savtirosa@
yahoo.com or (248) 355-2221.