Change & Permanent Zikaron (memory)
It has been more than a year since I have not posted on this blog. Needless to say for those of you who know me lots of things have changed in my life (for the good)!
One's environment can change. We, humans are increasingly mobile especially between the age of 18 to 25. We wander from city to city or across continents. In the last 7 years since graduating from high school, I have lived in 6 cities and across 3 different countries. In that process, your friends, acquaintances might change and some of them will get lost in transition.
My grandparents' life was also abruptly changed between their age of 16 and 25. They survived the Holocaust, hiding between Slovakia and Hungary and suffering terrible losses. However, this was not voluntary change. The only change they embraced was after much despair and facing death-- the dream of coming back to a place they can call home: they made Aliyah in 1949.
One thing I noticed as I have moved from places to places there is one bound that is unbreakable: family. My grandparents did not have the chance to maintain that bound. My grandfather lost his 2 brothers and father. My grandmother lost her brother, Karoly Kohn who was 14. She was only 16 and the SS in Budapest rounded up all the men over 16 seeking refuge in the Swedish Embassy. Despite Karoly's age he was deported...my grandmother looked for Karoly all of her life.
In my grandmother's albums, I can see the picture of a young boy. In hungarian, below the picture cut from a newspaper, it says: "have you seen this boy?"
Karoly was never found but I carry his middle name. People often wonder why my middle name is Caroll. Some have asked me with a smile on their face why I carry a girl's name. I am however very proud to carry Karoly's name,
Karoly was registered to Yad Vashem by my grandparents in 1990. His file is gathered with other Jews who perished during the Holocaust at Yad Vashem in the circular monument at the end of the museum(see picture). For me this is an important piece of memory (see the document) because my great Uncle having no burial place, this remains a symbolic piece. When my grandmother passed away, my family decided to have Karoly inscribed on my grandmother's tomb. Things can change but memory is permanent. Remembering is an important value-- it's not a slogan.
One's environment can change. We, humans are increasingly mobile especially between the age of 18 to 25. We wander from city to city or across continents. In the last 7 years since graduating from high school, I have lived in 6 cities and across 3 different countries. In that process, your friends, acquaintances might change and some of them will get lost in transition.
My grandparents' life was also abruptly changed between their age of 16 and 25. They survived the Holocaust, hiding between Slovakia and Hungary and suffering terrible losses. However, this was not voluntary change. The only change they embraced was after much despair and facing death-- the dream of coming back to a place they can call home: they made Aliyah in 1949.
One thing I noticed as I have moved from places to places there is one bound that is unbreakable: family. My grandparents did not have the chance to maintain that bound. My grandfather lost his 2 brothers and father. My grandmother lost her brother, Karoly Kohn who was 14. She was only 16 and the SS in Budapest rounded up all the men over 16 seeking refuge in the Swedish Embassy. Despite Karoly's age he was deported...my grandmother looked for Karoly all of her life.
In my grandmother's albums, I can see the picture of a young boy. In hungarian, below the picture cut from a newspaper, it says: "have you seen this boy?"
Karoly was never found but I carry his middle name. People often wonder why my middle name is Caroll. Some have asked me with a smile on their face why I carry a girl's name. I am however very proud to carry Karoly's name,
Karoly was registered to Yad Vashem by my grandparents in 1990. His file is gathered with other Jews who perished during the Holocaust at Yad Vashem in the circular monument at the end of the museum(see picture). For me this is an important piece of memory (see the document) because my great Uncle having no burial place, this remains a symbolic piece. When my grandmother passed away, my family decided to have Karoly inscribed on my grandmother's tomb. Things can change but memory is permanent. Remembering is an important value-- it's not a slogan.
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