MAY 26 • 2022 | 31

ed Poland in September 1939, 
“we had to go to the borders to 
fight back,
” Izzy said. 
Held four years in a slave 
labor camp, he recalled in 
the film being forced to cut 
trees that 30 or 40 people 
would then carry up the hill. 
After escaping with others, 
the group lived in the woods 
and did whatever was need-
ed to survive as part of the 
Resistance. Years later, Izzy 
received a letter from the 
Hungarian government saying 
that it was granting him about 
$3,000 (the U.S. equivalent) 
“for the death of your family 
members during World War II.
” 
The documentary has gaps 
in the couple’s wartime history 
but includes what happened 
later. Rita and Izzy each 
reached New York City in the 
late 1940s and took factory 
jobs. They met at Brighton 
Beach in Brooklyn. Izzy’s 
brother told Rita, “He’s the nic-
est person. You should marry 
him.
” And they were, until Izzy 
passed away 11 years ago. 
When Rita died in 
December 2021, author and 
Detroit Free Press columnist 
Mitch Albom, a family friend, 
wrote about the warmth, 
strength and humor of the 
96-year-old woman. After 
introducing Rita to Mitch in 
1997, Bernie explained to her 
that Albom was the writer of 
the bestselling book Tuesdays 
with Morrie about his visits 
with a cherished professor. 
 Bernie agreed with Devin 
Scillian that his humorous 
ways could have come from 
his mother, who enlivened 
every gathering. Bernie said 
Rita “had no filter,
” speaking 
English with some Yiddish 
mixed in, and “most of the 
time it was so funny.
” An 
example from the Albom col-
umn: “If a restaurant served 

something she didn’t like, she’
d 
crack: ‘The food was better in 
Auschwitz.
’”
By contrast, Izzy was 
the family disciplinarian. 
Education came first with 
him. When Bernie’s fourth-
grade report card included a 
“D” in typing, Izzy made him 
practice for hours. 
From Bernie’s descriptions, 
the Smilovitzes seem to have 
adjusted pretty well to their 
new lives in America. Still, 
he remains convinced that 
“Holocaust survivors have a 
different vibe to them,
” such 
as panicking when a family 
member comes late. 
Rita once became frantic 
noticing her grandson Jake 
playing basketball outside. 
“She said that Germans might 
be in the bushes,
” Bernie 
recalled. “She’
d have little out-
bursts like this.
”
Mostly, Rita was content 
to feed people her delicious 
cooking and lavish love on 
her family. It now includes a 
new grandchild for Bernie and 
Donna, who have three. Zach’s 
first child is named Isabel or 
Izzy, for Bernie’s father. 
“There was hell,
” Rita said 
about Auschwitz in the doc-
umentary, before pivoting 
abruptly to tell Zach and 
Bernie, “but now I have to 
make you French toast.
” 
At the conclusion of the pro-
gram, CHAIM gave Scillian a 
copy of Invisible Ink, a book by 
Dr. Guy Stern, director of the 
HC’s Zekelman International 
Institute of the Righteous. Silver 
announced a donation to the 
museum to honor the memory 
of Bernie’s mother, Rita. 
She said, “
As our survi-
vors age and pass, it is more 
important than ever to keep 
sharing a parent’s story, in 
hopes that the Holocaust 
doesn’t happen again.
” 

Soundstage Shaarey Zedek
part of the
series

For more information, contact
the synagogue office at (248)357-5544.

They are the first female cantorial trio in the U.S. and their 
collaboration has been connecting communities across the 
world through harmony since 2019.

Concert tickets are FREE,
but registration is required.

Patron Seating with Dessert Reception $100.

Sponsored by the Irving and Beverly Laker Concert Series:
Shul Sisters Concert

Thursday, June 9, 2022 
7:00 p.m.

The Shul Sisters is the brainchild of
these acclaimed Cantors

Laurie Akers
(Congregation Or Shalom, Chicago)
Rachel Brook
(Anshe Emet Synagogue, Chicago)
Rachel Goldman
(Congregation Ner Tamid, Los Angeles)

