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Her Senior Moment
Holocaust survivor Erna Gorman
earns honorary diploma from FJA.
ARI SAMUEL SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
O
As the crowd rose to its feet, Gorman,
n stage at the Berman Center for
83, a Holocaust survivor and “hidden
the Performing Arts this month,
child,” accepted a diploma fate cruelly
58 newly minted alumnae from
denied her from earning decades earlier.
Frankel Jewish Academy’s Class of 2017
“I was very young when I
sat eagerly waiting for the
went through the Holocaust
evening’s final diploma to be
and after I had no opportu-
awarded before tossing their
nity to go to school,” Gorman
mortarboards in the air.
explained. “I had to go to work
Head of School Rabbi
and help earn money.”
Azaryah Cohen described the
Gorman and her family had
unique circumstances faced by
been in Poland for an aunt’s
the night’s remaining gradu-
wedding in 1939 when the
ate: “There are generations of
Nazis invaded and WWII
Jews who experienced atroci-
began, preventing the family
ties so vile that any element
Gorman’s memoir,
from returning to their native
of humanity was quashed, but
published in 2010
France and landing them in
somehow found their ‘self ’
one of the country’s notorious
rose to inspire future gen-
ghettos.
erations. We are privileged to
Eventually her family found an oppor-
have such a person here tonight.”
tunity to escape and fled to Ukraine.
The 59th “senior” was an octogenar-
They sought refuge on a farmer’s prop-
ian who accompanied the students on
erty, remaining hidden for more than
their recent class trip to Poland and
Israel, acting as a real-life link between a two years. Following the Red Army’s
past they knew from history and moder- liberation of Ukraine, her older sister
was married off and her mother passed
nity.
away. She and her father immigrated to
“This individual, who did not enjoy
Detroit in 1953.
the luxury of a formal education,
Gorman went on to marry, raise
received an honorary doctorate even
without receiving a high school diploma two children and devote many years
to Holocaust education. In 2009, she
— until this evening,” Cohen said. “On
was awarded an honorary doctorate
behalf of our board of trustees, our
in education from Northern Michigan
faculty, staff and students, I would like
University. The following year, she wrote
to present Mrs. Erna Gorman with a
a well-received memoir of her experi-
Frankel Jewish Academy diploma.”
TOP: Holocaust survivor Erna Gorman with FJA graduates Sidrah Kovan, Ilana Weinfeld, Tatum Partrich
and Camryn Otis. BOTTOM LEFT: Gorman receives her honorary diploma from FJA Head of School Rabbi
Azaryah Cohen. RIGHT: Gorman joined the Class of 2017 on the Auschwitz-to-Birkenau March of the Living.
ence as a hidden child.
This was Gorman’s fourth trip with a
senior class. She was first approached in
2013 by Debbie Wrotslavsky, FJA’s then-
director of professional development,
to join the kids for the Auschwitz-to-
Birkenau March of the Living.
“When we brought her to Poland
that first year, it was so powerful,”
Wrotslavsky said. “It got both the stu-
dents and the staff to pay attention.”
That power has not faded with time.
Graduates Nicholas Vieder and Ilana
Weinfeld each noted how nurturing
Gorman was.
“Her being there was strengthening to
us all,” Veider said.
“She inspired all of us to become
better individuals, as well as Jews,”
Weinfeld added.
Graduate Tatum Partrich, founding
editor of FJA’s new student newsmaga-
zine, @FJA, marveled at Gorman’s vital-
ity.
“Having Erna on the trip made the
experience more meaningful, and her
positive outlook on the world amazed
me day after day,” Partrich said.
“For many, the hardest part about
grasping the tragedy of the Holocaust
is putting a face to those millions who
experienced it,” she added. “Erna gave
us a more in-depth understanding of the
unimaginable.” •
Gentle Giant
Goliath, a 20-pound tortoise,
cheers Brown Center clients.
FRAN VICTOR SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
W
e’ve all heard about the amaz-
ing healing power of ani-
mals. Petting a dog has been
shown to lower blood pressure and
research shows that horses can recog-
nize human emotion. But tortoises? For
the participants of the Dorothy and
Peter Brown Adult Day Program in West
Bloomfield, the tortoise won the race …
to the hearts of its participants.
When Milt Fisk first brought his
African Leopard tortoise Goliath to the
Brown Center, a joint program of Jewish
Senior Life and JVS, he wasn’t sure what
12
June 22 • 2017
jn
the program participants, who all live
with different dementias including
Alzheimer’s disease, would think. But
he watched their “faces light up” when
they pet Goliath.
“I got Goliath when he was barely the
size of a quarter,” Fisk said. “I’ve now
had him for 20 years and he weighs 20
pounds. His life expectancy is 70, so
he’ll outlive me! I love taking him to the
Brown Center in West Bloomfield. As
the son of Holocaust survivors, I feel our
trips to Jewish senior facilities is my way
of giving back.” •
ABOVE LEFT: Milt Fisk with Goliath, his pet of 20 years. RIGHT: A Brown Center participant enjoys Goliath.