Stephen Darori on the Holocaust : A Letter to My Daughter Kim before she embarks on ...

Stephen Darori on the Holocaust : A Letter to My Daughter Kim before she embarks on ...: A Letter to My Daughter Kim before she embarks on on the March of The Living... Dearest Kim, The March of the Living is an extraordin...

Stephen Darori on the Holocaust : A Visit to Nazi Concentration Camps 42 years ago ....

Stephen Darori on the Holocaust : A Visit to Nazi Concentration Camps 42 years ago ....: t's horrifying, enraging, affirming, soul crushing, isolating, enlightening and a host of other emotions I'll continue to sort out ...

Stephen Darori on the Holocaust : Kim , Bring Me back an Acorn from Auschwitz-Birken...

Stephen Darori on the Holocaust : Kim , Bring Me back an Acorn from Auschwitz-Birken...: Oak trees near ruins of Krema III gas chamber Ruins of undressing room at Krema III with oak trees in background Poster a...

Kim , Bring Me back an Acorn from Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bring Back an Acorn for me in Zion

Oak trees near ruins of Krema III gas chamber

Ruins of undressing room at Krema III with oak trees in background

Poster at the ruins of Krema III; oak trees in background

.

 A request to my daughter Kim as she prepares to go on the journey of the March of the Living.

"Kim , Bring Me back an acorn from Auschwitz-Birkenau,  Bring  Back an Acorn for me in Zion."

Dearest Kim

I have been to Auschwitz twice in my liife. The first as a 19 year old simply to say Kaddish
and tick of " been there and done that" . 20 years later , somewhat more mature and better   informed about my relations murdered in Auschwitz , I took 5 days leave from a 3COM subcontractor journey in Europe and traveled to Auschwitz and the Forest of Rumbala where o 

many of my relations died.

At Auschwitz  I was walking down the gravel road towards the Krema III gas chamber when

 a man from the Golders Green, clutching something close to his heart , came up to me with tears streaming down his face and  asked if I would take an acorn with me.  Very puzzled and somewhat concerned about the affect a visit to Krema III would also have on me,  I said ok. When I got to the crematorium I saw oak trees that victims waited under for their turn in the gas chambers  Everywhere you dig your heel in grass you find white ash from the chimneys. I realized that the calcium, sodium and potassium even some carbon of the victims remained in the ashes and those ashes had been taken up by the oak trees for nourishment. Some tiny portion of the victims resided in the acorns. I thought if I could get some acorns out of the camp I would have liberated some of the elements of the victims, many of my relations,  all these years later.

 I gathered two  acorn  and put it in my pocket. I am not going to say here whether  those acorns made it to South Africa and later Israel. I will say that there is a beautiful oak tree in Kirstenbosch Gardens, high up on Devils Peak / Table Mountain . I smile every time I recall how I lovingly encouraged one to grow to a small  sapling  and often visited my Auschwitz oak when I climbed Table Mountain every fortnight for exercise. I will occasionally inspect its leaves and even softly spoke to it , watering it with my tears. My climbing buddies thought I was crazy and 

always asked "what, why , when" but this was between me an my Auschwitz Acorn.

 Later I read victims made tea from the acorns or ate them raw. One said if there had been any 

grass we would have eaten it, too

The other acorn was on permanent display in  Yad Vasem for years. ... it was recently given to  the Israeli Vulcan Agricultural Institute to grow into a sapling for me and perhaps in Autumn of 2014 , Kim , Jonathan, Lesleigh and I  , the only living residents of the Drues/ Shabelstok 
.Fialkov families will plant in somewhere in Yad Vashem and water it with our tears,.  

 Kim , Bring Me back an acorn from Auschwitz-Birkenau,  Bring  Back an Acorn for me in Zion.

Love you to bits
Dad
xxx

http://stephendaroriontheholocaustx1.blogspot.co.il/2014/02/a-letter-to-my-daughter-kim-before-she.html

A Visit to Nazi Concentration Camps 42 years ago ... Kim, I wrote my memories and you can digitally record them now for Social Media's conscience .

t's horrifying, enraging, affirming, soul crushing, isolating, enlightening and a host of other emotions I'll continue to sort out over time. 

I visited Treblinka first - northeast of Warsaw, Poland. It was desolate and eerie. We were the only people there for the entire time we visited other than the couple manning the museum. 

They have a very small free museum with a few artifacts and you can go on a self led tour even using your car to drive right INTO the camp. First, we parked on the edge and walked in. Then as it got colder and darker, we drove the car carefully around the inside. The Germans tried to destroy all evidence but foundations of the barracks and officer's quarters remained. They've used very modest wooden plaques to identify the various barracks. 

They look like this:

It is surrounded by a huge forest on almost all sides. Isolating and deafens out any noise outside of the camp. They've also constructed a huge rock memorial over the giant cremation pit. Some rocks have names and life dates. Some are blank and piled with other rocks. People have brought rocks from all over the world with prewritten messages in sticky paint or permanent marker to leave nestled into the nooks and crannies of the giant monolith in the center. 

Next, I visited Auschwitz near Krakow, Poland. It is the most touristy and most rushed experience I had, but it is the most intact and has the most artifacts including massive rooms of human hair, children's shoes and clothes, and various grooming items. Although I REALLY disliked being rushed and not being able to process the experience, you really get a visual idea of how massive the place was. Then Birkenau blows you away. Rows and rows of barracks as far as you can see and although the gas chamber was blown up, portions remained intact. It's the iconic place to go and you'll recognize the arrival gate from Holocaust movies and books. 

I also found it a bit ironic that the sticker you have to wear the entire time you are in Auschwitz is bright yellow:

I'm not sure if it is intentional or not, but my first thought was: "Bizarre. You still need a yellow badge to get in. At least it's not a star."

Finally, I visited Dachau in Bavaria, Germany. It was a mix between the two. It has a larger museum, lots of intact barracks, and guided tours. But you can also go on a self guided tour with and audio guide, if you want. When you go to the back of the camp, you can walk through a gas chamber that was used for testing next to a room of ovens. 

Here's a picture of the rather unassuming room and door leading to the chamber: 

It's surreal to just be able to walk in and walk out at will. There's also a winding path to the right of that building that has two massive memorials filled with ashes. I don't know why but that's the only time I cried out load and continuously  at any of the camps. Maybe it was because I was alone or maybe there was just something about that spot. It was powerful. On the same winding path as the memorials are the execution walls where people were executed by firing squad. There's still bullet holes in the walls. 

One thing that was disappointing about Dachau was one of the memorials on the outside wall near the museum has incorporated ALL the "badges" of those who were sent there (Jews, Poles, political prisoners, Gypsies, etc) but refused to incorporate the pink triangle badge worn by homosexuals. It seemed disrespectful and petty, regardless of the views (in the 1960s) on homosexuality in Germany. 

There's dozens, if not hundreds of camps and sub camps to be seen if one wishes. I believe Dachau had a huge map of all the camps throughout Europe. You won't believe it until you see it. 

If I had to suggest only one, especially for people who don't know a lot about the Holocaust, go to Auchwitz. The guided tour, artifacts, and intact buildings really help you to understand the enormity of what took place there. 

One last word of advice, especially for you otherwise endearing photo snapping tourists from the east: these are NOT the places for cute, smiling, peace sign group photos. You should have a lot of them from your trip but they shouldn't be at a place of torture and mass murder.

A Letter to My Daughter Kim before she embarks on on the March of The Living...

A Letter to My Daughter Kim before she embarks on on the March of The Living...

Dearest Kim,

The March of the Living is an extraordinary, unforgettable experience.  With thousands  of Jewish people, from countries all around the world, you will share in a once in a lifetime experience when they march three kilometers from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the largest concentration camp complex built by the Nazis during World War II. The March commemorates Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. You with be there – along with over 8,000 participants who will be part of this historic event.

As one of the Marchers, you will retrace the steps of the March of Death, the actual route which countless numbers of our people were forced to take on their way to the gas chambers at Birkenau. You will experience Jewish history where it was made. This time, however, there will be a difference. It will be a March of the Living with thousands of Jewish youth, like yourself, marching shoulder to shoulder. You will participate in a memorial service at one of the gas chambers/crematoria, in Birkenau, which will conclude with the singing of Hatikvah, reaffirming Am Yisrael Chai – The Jewish People Live.

Kaddish is a Jewish Prayer to Remember the Dead and normally said by Men. In the absence of a Male Member ( there are only your brother Jonathan and I left)  of the Family when you place the Three Jerusalem Stones with the Names of  The Three Branches of your Family that were Murdered in the Holocaust  say Kaddish out Loud . Say Kaddish for the Drues of Krakow and your Great Aunt Hadasaeah that died in Belzec extermination camp   and all the other  Drues cousins of Krakow that died in Belzec,Treblinska and Auschwitz .Over 280 Drues s of Krakow  relations died. There are no known survivors.. Say Kaddish  for the Drues of Majzugola near Vilna who died in the Vaivara and Auschwitz Camp if they were not murdered first in the Forest of Paneriai   .There are no known survivors . Say Kaddish for the Shabelshok/Fialkov Families of Riga  who were murdered between 30th November and 8th December ,1941, in the Rumbula Forest near Riga with  25,000 thousand other Jews from Latvia. Say Kaddish for the sisters and brothers of your Great Grandmother Freda Shabelstok Baker who died in the Forrest of Rumbula . Say Kaddish for Sarah , Robert, Michael, David , Gregor , Rachel , Lazer, Leah and Fredrich , Freda and Rosa Shabelstok's older sisters and brothers and all their children and even grandchildren  Not one survived. Over 350 members of the Shabelstok / Fialkov Families died in the misty Forest of Rumbula with  other Latvian Jews mainly from Riga and surrounding areas. Say Kaddish for all the Shabelstok/Fialkov/Drues cousins and there must have  been hundreds and hundreds, , if not thousands and thousands, in the extended Shabelstok / Fialkov families .Four Shabeltok Siblings married four Fialkov Siblings. None are ni  known survivers.

Say Kaddish in Tears and then Scream … "We Survived and Are Here Now Again -Never Ever Again" , אנחנו שרדנו ואנחנו כאן עכשיו - לעולם לא עוד יהיה שם שואה חוזרת


Those that Survived The Holocaust but did not experience it first hand:-
Shabelskok: Freda and her younger Rosa . Freda was in Uitenhague ,South Africa married to Chaim Baker  and Rosa, her younger sister  in Norway taken there by the Danish Resistance with most of the Danish Jews.They were the youngest of 11 siblings . All the siblings were married with kids .all the siblings and their families were murdered in the Forest of Rumbuka

Fialkov: Twin Brothers Manny ( Mordechai) and Jay ( Josef) in Cape Town,South Africa . They were the youngest of 10 siblings . None of their siblings or their families survived the Holocaust..

Drues: Samuel  ( your great grandfather) and Naomi in Cape Town, South Africa and William in Chicago, USA survived the Holocaust.. The children of Hadaseah who died in Belzec, joined Jabotinsky's Betar,immigrated to Israel in 1932 and survived in Israel . They were Freda and Hashya who married the Kurman Brothers , Max , who was wounded twice in Palmach operations and Chaim who was a teacher for 43 years before retiring.

Mourn and then Celebrate the Shabelstok/ Fialkov / Drues Survival when you March from Birkenau to Auschwitz... you are their Symbol of Survival and Their Future..

 



  








 




 


 

Love You To Bits
xxx
Dad

On the Origin of our surname 
Stephen Darori ( Drori) 
Before I Hebrewized my surname on the 6th September 1986 I was Stephen Ellis Drus...the son of Fay Baker Drus and Morrie Drus  z'l
Fay Baker Drus was the daughter of Freda Shabelstol Baker and Hymie ( Chaim Baker) one of the 3 founders of Betar in South Africa in 1931 and Jabotinskyt stayed at him when he visited the Eastern Cape, South Africa in the same year.
Morrie ( Morris ) Drus is the son of Samuel Drues and Sarah Kaplan Drues. . They were married in Poland and then in 1921 immigrated to Cape Town , South Africa. Drues became Drus.

The logic of the Hebrewaization of Drus ro Darori. Drus דרוס pronounced Darus is the Gerund of "Ledareis".לדרס.." to be trodden on to be run over".... could not live with that when I came on Aliyah from Cape town, South Africa and a letter change דרוס -> דרור which became דרורי the Biblical word for a Sparrow. Cage a Sparrow and it will die wrote Acad Ha'am so Eliezer Ben Yehuda, the reviver of the Hebrew Language  in his New  Hebrew dictionary gave Drori a new metaphorical meaning  of "Freedom and Liberty". The "a' was added for Branding Purposes . Darori ( Drori) is very approproiate... Kim , your great Aunt Professor Ethel Drus led the committee of 12 ( 9 Jews and Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Z.K. Mathews ) who drafted the Freedom Charter , the most important document of the African National Congress. Both your Grandparents and I were very active in the Progressive Party of Helen Susman and Harry Oppenheimer which has evolved into the Democratic Alliance, the Liberal Opposition to the ANC, 

A Letter to My Daughter Kim before she embarks on the March of the Living

A Letter to My Daughter Kim before she embarks on on the March of The Living...

Dearest Kim,

The March of the Living is an extraordinary, unforgettable experience.  With thousands  of Jewish people, from countries all around the world, you will share in a once in a lifetime experience when they march three kilometers from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the largest concentration camp complex built by the Nazis during World War II. The March commemorates Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. You with be there – along with over 8,000 participants who will be part of this historic event.

As one of the Marchers, you will retrace the steps of the March of Death, the actual route which countless numbers of our people were forced to take on their way to the gas chambers at Birkenau. You will experience Jewish history where it was made. This time, however, there will be a difference. It will be a March of the Living with thousands of Jewish youth, like yourself, marching shoulder to shoulder. You will participate in a memorial service at one of the gas chambers/crematoria, in Birkenau, which will conclude with the singing of Hatikvah, reaffirming Am Yisrael Chai – The Jewish People Live.

Kaddish is a Jewish Prayer to Remember the Dead and normally said by Men. In the absence of a Male Member of the Family ( there are only your brother and I left) u when you place the Three Jerusalem Stones with the Names of The Three Branches of your Family that were Murdered in the Holocaust  say Kaddish out Loud . Say Kaddish for the Drues of Krakow and your Great Aunt Hadasaeah that died in Belzec extermination camp   and all the other  Drues cousins of Krakow that died in Belzec,Treblinska and Auschwitz .Over 280 Drues s of Krakow  relations died. There are no known survivors.. Say Kaddish  for the Drues of Majzugola near Vilna who died in the  Vaivara and Auschwitz Camp if they were not murdered first in the Forest of Paneriai   .There are no known survivors . Say Kaddish for the Shabelshok/Fialkov Families of Riga  who were murdered between 30th November and 8th December  in the Rumbula Forest near Riga with  25,000 thousand other Jews from Latvia. Say Kaddish for the sisters and brothers of your Great Grandmother Freda Shabelstok Baker who died in the Forrest of Rumbula . Say Kaddish for Sarah , Robert, Michael, David , Gregor , Rachel , Lazer, Leah and Fredrich , Freda and Rosa Shabelstok's older sisters and brothers and all their children and even grandchildren  Not one survived. Over 350 members of the Shabelstok / Fialkov Families died in the misty Forest of Rumbula with  other Latvian Jews mainly from Riga and surrounding areas. Say Kaddish for all the Shabelstok/Fialkov/Drues cousins and there must have  been hundreds and hundreds, , if not thousands and thousands, in the extended Shabelstok / Fialkov families .Four Shabeltok Siblings married four Fialkov Siblings. None are ni  known survivers.

Say Kaddish in Tears and then Scream … "We Survived and Are Here Now Again -Never Ever Again" , אנחנו שרדנו ואנחנו כאן עכשיו - לעולם לא עוד יהיה שם שואה חוזרת

Those that Survived The Holocaust but did not experience it first hand:-

Shabelskok: Freda and her younger Rosa . Freda was in Uitenhague ,South Africa married to Chaim Baker  and Rosa, her younger sister  in Norway taken there by the Danish Resistance with most of the Danish Jews.They were the youngest of 11 siblings . All the siblings were married with kids .all the siblings and their families were murdered in the Forest of Rumbuka

Fialkov: Twin Brothers Manny ( Mordechai) and Jay ( Josef) in Cape Town,South Africa . They were the youngest of 10 siblings . None of their siblings or their families survived the Holocaust..

Drues: Samuel  ( your great grandfather) and Naomi in Cape Town, South Africa and William in Chicago, USA survived the Holocaust.. The children of Hadaseah who died in Belzec, joined Jabotinsky's Betar,immigrated to Israel in 1932 and survived in Israel . They were Freda and Hashya who married the Kurman Brothers , Max , who was wounded twice in Palmach operations and Chaim who was a teacher for 43 years before retiring.

Mourn and then Celebrate the Shabelstok/ Fialkov / Drues Survival when you March from Birkenau to Auschwitz... you are their Symbol of Survival .

Love You To Bits

xxx

Dad

On the Origin of our surname 

Stephen Darori ( Drori) 

Before I Hebrewized my surname on the 6th September 1986 I was Stephen Ellis Drus...the son of Fay Baker Drus and Morrie Drus  z'l

Fay Baker Drus was the daughter of Freda Shabelstol Baker and Hymie ( Chaim Baker) one of the 3 founders of Betar in South Africa in 1931 and Jabotinskyt stayed at him when he visited the Eastern Cape, South Africa in the same year.

Morrie ( Morris ) Drus is the son of Samuel Drues and Sarah Kaplan Drues. . They were married in Poland and then in 1921 immigrated to Cape Town , South Africa. Drues became Drus.

The logic of the Hebrewaization of Drus ro Darori. Drus דרוס pronounced Darus is the Gerund of "Ledareis".לדרס.." to be trodden on to be run over".... could not live with that when I came on Aliyah from Cape town, South Africa and a letter change דרוס -> דרור which became דרורי the Biblical word for a Sparrow. Cage a Sparrow and it will die wrote Acad Ha'am so Eliezer Ben Yehuda, the reviver of the Hebrew Language  in his New  Hebrew dictionary gave Drori a new metaphorical meaning  of "Freedom and Liberty". The "a' was added for Branding Purposes . Darori ( Drori) is very approproiate... Kim , your great Aunt Professor Ethel Drus led the committee of 12 ( 9 Jews and Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Z.K. Mathews ) who drafted the Freedom Charter , the most important document of the African National Congress. Both your Grandparents and I were very active in the Progressive Party of Helen Susman and Harry Oppenheimer which has evolved into the Democratic Alliance, the Liberal Opposition to the ANC,