Teaching History Matters

We are halfway through our interview tour here in Israel with the survivors of the Train near Magdeburg.

Of course, it has been quite powerful. We are mindful and treading carefully through what can certainly be a minefield of trauma, of opening up painful memories, but our focus is on the love and compassion shown to our friends by the liberating soldiers of the previous century. We hope to tap into their insights, and the joy that many of them experienced generations later when they had the opportunity to connect with the actual men who saved them.

This, of course, is why many of them travelled to the United States to meet them, or supported Frank Towers visit to Israel to meet him here  a dozen years ago. 

Two days ago we visited with our first survivor on this leg of the journey. John Fransman was a six year old Dutch boy who survived Bergen Belsen with his mother, but lost his father there to starvation, and a young cousin, 10 year old Helen, who died 10 days after liberation.

John was liberated on 4.13.45 by the Americans who came across the train.

In the afternoon we schlepped our gear up north again, this time to ‘7 year old’ Hedwig’s retirement community. She remembered her father exclaiming about the white star on the tanks as the Americans arrived at the train. “It was as if the tanks emanated from the earth, the people swarmed the tanks to greet the soldiers…”

Yesterday we interviewed Eran Leitersdorf, who is a well-known doctor and Professor  and former Dean of Medicine at Hadassah Hebrew University.

His mother was Gina Rappaport, the brilliant young Polish woman who spoke several languages and served as George Gross’s interpreter when the train was liberated. It was pretty emotional. We discussed PTSD, and his mother’s optimism. “The good always wins.”

We continue our journey.