JANUARY 27 • 2022 | 35

moved to Farmington Hills), 
a library with archives was 
an important part of his 
plan. According to Weiss, 
“He wanted documentation.” 
Today the Zekelman 
memorial book collection 
is an important resource for 
Holocaust survivors and their 
children; individuals doing 
genealogy research; as well 
as students, researchers and 
authors.
Cheri Eisenberg, a former 
Detroiter who now lives in 
Atlanta, explains that there 
are two memorial books 
for David-Horodok — one 
published in 1957 in Israel 
in Hebrew and Yiddish, and 
another in English in the U.S. 
in 1981. 
The latter was published 
with assistance from the 
David-Horodok’s Women’s 
Organization, then based in 

Oak Park. The book includes 
descriptions of pre-war life 
from Eisenberg’s great aunt, 
Anna Zemmol. Roz Blanck of 
Franklin, who is active in the 
local David-Horodok group, 
has visited the town twice. 
There are no Jews living 
there now, she says. The town 
has a Holocaust memorial 
sculpture.
According to Weiss, new 
information about the World 
War II era continues to 
be discovered. “Holocaust 
history hasn’t ended yet,” she 
says. 
“What I am seeing is that 
more and more individuals 
and families are self-
publishing their own personal 
memorial books for their 
families in limited editions. 
Our Museum Shop is proud 
to feature these local survivor 
personal narratives.” 

Examples of memorial books from the Zekelman Holocaust Center’s 
collection.

German Memorial Books
The Zekelman Holocaust Center has a very large col-
lection of memorial books published by German cities 
and other organizations. Librarian/Archivist Faiga Weiss 
says German-speaking volunteers helped the Holocaust 
Center contact German cities and archives to locate 
memorial books. They sent the books that they had pub-
lished at no charge. “The quality of the memorial books 
was also exceptional. They listed the people who were 
deported, their birthdates, where they were deported and 
date of death. Some of the books actually traced survivors 
and noted where they were currently living,” she says.

BY SHARI S. COHEN

Supported through the generosity of The Jewish Fund and the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Family Foundation.

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