The Charlotte Jewish News - February 2014 - Page 12
Community Mews
Proof Evil Can Be Defeated (Part 1)
By Suly Chenkin
When any of the thousands of
students who have attended a But
terfly Project Workshop during
the past three years is asked what
his or her favorite part of the
Workshop is, the most common
answer is '‘listening to a Holo
caust survivor speak. ” The Levine
JCC’s Butterfly Project is fortu
nate and most grateful to have two
wonderful survivors, Irving Bien-
stock and Suly Chenkin, partici
pate in its workshops and tell their
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Suly Chenkin
stories to those students. The fol
lowing is the first half of Mrs.
Chenkin s story, recently pub
lished in the Charlotte Observer.
(Stay tunedfor the rest of the story
in next month's issue of the Char
lotte Jewish News^
My story begins and ends with
a propheey uttered by my grand
mother at the moment I was bom.
“This ehild” she said, “beeause
she was born on the first day of
the Jewish New Year, will be
lueky her entire life.” Six month
later the Nazis invaded Lithuania
and the word “luek” disappeared
for all of us Jewish people living
in that eountry.
By the time I was eight months
old, we wore a yellow Star of
David and at 10 months we were
prisoners in the hard labor/eon-
eentration eamp known as the
Kovno Ghetto. At the age of one,
I survived the seleetion in whieh
one-third of the population,
mostly ehildren and the elderly,
were taken away and shot.
In the two years that followed,
disease, famine, hard labor, laek
of firewood, and the eonstant ter
ror of not knowing what was
going to happen next deeimated
another one-third of the popula
tion. Then eame the “Kinder Ak-
tzie,” the raid where the SS went
house by house, pulling out all
ehildren under the age of 12, and
any adult deemed unfit for labor.
Beeause of my father’s boss, a
Nazi with a eonseienee, we were
forewarned, hurriedly built a hid
ing plaee and stayed hidden in the
newly exeavated bunker.
On the seeond day of the raid,
they eame to our house. I remem
ber my terror in the darkness of
the hole, as my mother’s hand
kept pressing against my mouth so
that I wouldn’t ery and give us
away. Luekily, the Nazis and their
dogs did not sniff out our hiding
plaee, but from then on, I had to
remain inside the house, for there
were no ehildren visibly left in the
ghetto.
With eaeh passing day my par
ents grew more desperate and as
the ehanees of their own survival
beeame nil, they made a deeision
no parent should ever have to
make: They gave me away.
On May II, 1944, my parents
told me they loved me, that if they
eould they would eome baek for
me, but that I eould never ask for
them, for if I did, the bad guys
would kill them and me. I was
given a sleeping potion and when
it took effeet I was put into a po
tato saek.
Outside a eart awaited. My
saek was loaded atop of the other
saeks and the eart travelled along
side the ghetto fenee. At a pre
arranged time and plaee, I was
thrown over the barbed wire. Two
women, who had been waiting ran
to the fenee, tore open the saek.
pulled me out of it and plaeed me
in a baby earriage. I remained
asleep as they wheeled me away
to what everyone hoped was a
ehanee to live.
I was 3-1/2 years old.
My fate had been entrusted to
someone my parents had never
met. Miriam Shulman was Jewish
herself, from a prestigious rab-
binieal family. She had gone un-
dereover, plaeing her own and
other people’s ehildren with the
few Lithuanians who were willing
to take us in.
My parents had sent me out in
the niek of time. Within eight
weeks, the fewer than 6,000 re
maining inmates of the ghetto
were marehed through the eity to
the train depot. There they were
loaded onto the eattle ears and
sent to eoneentration eamps: the
men to Daehau in Germany, the
women to Stuthoff in Poland.
A few month later the Soviet
Army liberated Kovno and we
eame out of hiding. But the ghetto
had been liquidated, dynamited
and burned to the ground and the
people, ineluding my parents,
were gone and presumed dead.
To be eontinued.
For more information about, to
schedule participation in, or to
volunteer at a Butterfly Project
workshop, please contact Dana
Kapustin, Butterfly Project Coor
dinator at butterfiyproject@char-
lottte.or or 704-944-6833.^
Heather Fisher Joins LJCC
as Head Swim Coach
Heather brings over 20 years of
experienee working with young
ehildren and their families
throughout our eommunity in both
W M
Heather Fisher
edueational and eoaehing roles.
She is originally from Sanibel Is
land, FL and started eompetitive
swimming at the age of 4. Heather
eontinued her swimming eareer as
a top state ranked High Sehool
athlete in Florida and went on to a
UNC-Wilmington swimming
seholarship. She earned a BA in
Psyehology and has also eom-
pleted all of her eoursework for
her MA in Early Childhood Spe-
eial Edueation. In reeent years.
Heather has eoaehed and men
tored hundreds of ehildren and
adults throughout the Charlotte
area working with several organi-
Charlotte
zations ineluding Tri It For Life,
Queen City Kids Triathlon Club
and most reeently, the Masters
Swim Coaeh at the YMCA.
Heather is an avid athlete and has
eompeted in over 50 triathlons
sinee 2007. She enjoys spending
time with her husband and her
four teenage ehildren. Heather
joins us with a tremendous pas
sion for swimming along with
demonstrated aeeomplishments,
skill sets and expertise. ^
W
JOIN Us AT OUR
Ajnnual Travel &
Cruise Show
NEW DATE!
Saturday, February 1, 2014 • llam-4pni
Charlotte Convention Center
www.MannTravels.com for more info
M mann
TRAVELS
CJP’s Circle of Life
(Continued from page 10)
As Ron and I look baek at our
good fortune in building our lives
in Charlotte and the role the Char
lotte Jewish eommunity has
played in our family’s develop
ment, we want to make a eontribu-
tion beyond annual giving to help
ensure the foundation of Judaism
for future generations of ehildren
in our eommunity. While we ean
provide only a modest gift for that
future growth, we know that oth
ers in the Charlotte Jewish eom
munity who have benefitted
direetly and indireetly from its in
stitutions have done likewise and
as our eommunity joins together,
we feel great joy in knowing that
the CJP will be there for genera
tions to eome and share in its
warm, loving, earing Jewish envi
ronment that ereates future leaders
of our eommunity.
Come and build your eommu
nity like the Weiner Family has
enjoyed. We are happy to give you
a tour at your eonvenienee. For
more information or to sehedule a
tour, please eontaet Alyson Kalik
at akaIik@shaIomeharIotte.org or
704-944-6776. We look forward to
meeting you. ^