20 | FEBRUARY 11 • 2021 A bout 170 Holocaust survivors received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, Jan. 29, at the Jewish Family Service (JFS) building in West Bloomfield. Brother and sister Alfred Zydower and Anna Lindemann, ages 91 and 89 respectively, were among those at the JFS building receiving the vaccine. Born in Germany, the sib- lings fled to Shanghai, China, in 1940 by way of Siberia. “I feel fine, ” Zydower of Madison Heights said after receiving the vaccine. “No problem, ” Lindemann of Oak Park added. Neither Zydower nor Lindemann thought they’ d see anything like the pandemic at this point in their lives, but as Holocaust survivors they have lived through much worse. “You cannot really compare to the Holocaust era when all that suffering went on, ” Zydower said. “Today, if you obey all the rules, you wear your mask and you stay at home, you’ve got nothing to worry about in a way. “Nobody is really bothering you here, you’ve got all your freedom, and nobody will ever call you ‘dirty Jew’ like they did in Germany, even if they didn’t know you. ” Zydower thinks the develop- ment of the vaccine is a good sign. “I believe it’s going to help tremendously, ” he said. “If you do catch it still, it will not kill you and stuff like that. It will be more like you’re having a flu. ” The clinic came about when JFS contacted the Oakland County Health Division (OCHD) to see if their staff and volunteers could get vaccinated as essential workers. JFS, which helps Holocaust survivors year- round, also inquired about the survivors getting vaccinations, and the ball started rolling from there. JFS CEO Perry Ohren said they did some pre-work before receiving the go-ahead, with JFS geriatric case managers reach- ing out to every survivor they knew in the area, amounting to over 400 in total. They asked the survivors about their interest if they were to have a vaccination clinic, as well as if they needed a ride. JFS also got the word out through social media, the Holocaust Memorial Center and through the Holocaust pro- gram at Jewish Senior Life. That Monday, JFS got the call: The clinic for the first dose would be that Friday. “We scrambled, ” Ohren said. “I work with lots of amazing people who figured out the logistics, and today the Oakland County Health Division is scheduled to vaccinate 170 or so Holocaust survivors. Maybe 50 of them are getting rides here through JFS transportation. ” (Some of the survivors served by JFS had already been vacci- nated prior to the clinic.) About 75 JFS employees were also vaccinated, along with about 50 Meals on Wheels vol- unteers. While the pandemic has affected everyone, being able to help facilitate vaccinations to the Holocaust survivors, with all they’ve been through, ren- ders Ohren nearly speechless. “Of all of our sacred work, working with survivors any- where from 75 to 105 years old, there’s nothing more important than to help survivors, ” Ohren said. “For us to be able to do a homey clinic at a place that’s familiar to them, I don’t have words. I could cry. ” Holocaust survivors now focus on surviving the pandemic. DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER Glad to Be Vaccinated Perry Ohren COURTESY OF JFS OUR COMMUNITY Nina Serenko gets her initial dose of the COVID vaccine. Edith Bernstein gets vaccinated at JFS.