The aftermath for survivors: the Holocaust, and October 7
The terrible plight of returned hostage Eli Sharabi – the man who was released from Hamas captivity last Saturday in a state of extreme emaciation and weakness, only to discover that his wife and two teenage daughters had been murdered in cold blood by Hamas right after he was kidnapped in October of 2023 – immediately called forth Holocaust comparisons from many people, including me. This was not only because of his obvious starvation and debility, but also because of the devastation wrought on his family (his brother also was kidnapped, and had died in captivity).
So although Sharabi is having a reunion with relatives, there won’t be any reunions on earth with his wife and daughters except by their gravesites. It’s a blow of such magnitude it’s hard to fathom, but many Holocaust survivors (including Otto Frank) endured similar suffering and losses: the torment and horror of the camps, and then the tragedy of learning that their families were gone. The road to recovery was difficult, and if you have read many tales of Holocaust survivors, you learn that some don’t make it back to wholeness.
I’ve written before about Holocaust survivors and their differing reactions; some do a great deal better than others. Part I of the series can be found here, and Part II can be found here. Part I is about a survivor who had an unusually optimistic nature and made quite a smooth transition, and Part II is about the brilliant Italian writer Primo Levi. I urge you to read them both, but especially the essay about Levi.
Levi may or may not have killed himself forty years after his war experience. He was in his 70s and suffering from depression, but the fall which caused his death may have been an accident. No one knows. In that essay, I quote some passages from his masterpiece Survival in Auschwitz. I cannot recommend the book highly enough.
But it is the sequel to that book that I’m going to be talking about now; its American title is The Reawakening [*see below]. It tells the tale of his year-long journey to get home and to recover from enormous emotional and physical devastation. He was very fortunate in some ways – his family had survived, and he was young (25) and was able to marry and rebuild his life.
This passage from the book (translated from the original Italian) describes the moment when – having been left behind ten days earlier at the camp, expected to die with hundreds of others because of severe illness, when the Germans abandoned the camps and led the rest of the inmates on horrific death marches, so determined were they to cause the death of all the remaining inmates – Levi sees his first liberators, four Russian soldiers on horseback:
To us they seemed wonderfully concrete and real, perched on their enormous horses, between the grey of the snow and the grey of the sky, immobile beneath the gusts of damp wind which threatened a thaw.
It seemed to us, and so it was, that the nothing full of death in which we had wandered like spent stars for ten days had found its own solid centre, a nucleus of condensation; four men, armed, but not against us: four messengers of peace, with rough and boyish faces beneath their fur hats.
They did not greet us, nor did they smile; they seemed oppressed not only by compassion but by a confused restraint, which sealed their lips and bound their eyes to the funereal scene. It was that shame we knew so well, the shame that drowned us after the selections, and every time we had to watch, or submit to, some outrage: the shame the Germans did not know, that the just man experiences at another man’s crime, the feeling of guilt that such a crime should exist, that it should have been introduced irrevocably into the world of things that exist, and that his will for good should have proved too weak or null, and should not have availed in defence.
That’s a sample of the quality of Levi’s writing and the depth of his thought: the feeling of guilt that such a crime should exist, that it should have been introduced irrevocably into the world of things that exist …
The Holocaust haunted him. At the very end of the book The Reawakening, he sounds a chilling note about how extraordinarily difficult it is to endure experiences such as those of the camps, and how life-changing, and how hard to shake. This was written in 1961:
I reached Turin [his home town] on 19 October [1945], after thirty-five days of travel; my house was still standing, all my family was alive, no one was expecting me. I was swollen, bearded and in rags, and had difficulty in making myself recognized. I found my friends full of life, the warmth of secure meals, the solidity of daily work, the liberating joy of recounting my story. I found a large clean bed, which in the evening (a moment of terror) yielded softly under my weight. But only after many months did I lose the habit of walking with my glance fixed to the ground, as if searching for something to eat or to pocket hastily or to sell for bread; and a dream full of horror has still not ceased to visit me, at sometimes frequent, sometimes longer, intervals.
It is a dream within a dream, varied in detail, one in substance. I am sitting at a table with my family, or with friends, or at work, or in the green countryside; in short, in a peaceful relaxed environment, without tension or affliction; yet I feel a deep and subtle anguish, the definite sensation of an impending threat. And in fact, as the dream proceeds, slowly or brutally, each time in a different way, everything collapses and disintegrates around me, the scenery, the walls, the people, while the anguish becomes more intense and more precise. Now everything has changed to chaos; I am alone in the center of a grey and turbid nothing, and now, I know what this thing means, and I also know that I have always known it; I am in the Lager [German expression for concentration camp] once more, and nothing is true outside the Lager. All the rest was a brief pause, a deception of the senses, a dream: my family, nature in flower, my home. Now this inner dream, this dream of peace, is over, and in the outer dream, which continues, gelid, a well-known voice resounds: a single word, not imperious, but brief and subdued. It is the dawn command of Auschwitz, a foreign word, feared and expected: get up, Wstawàch.
* As I said, the second book is called The Reawakening in the US, but the actual title in Italian is better translated as The Truce, and that’s what it was called in other countries. I think the difference is meaningful. The American title emphasizes hopefulness: the author has come back nearly from the dead, returned to life, and has many adventures. Although the book is hardly light, it’s lighter than Levi’s Auschwitz masterpiece, which was called Survival in Auschwitz only in the US; in other countries it was published with a title that seems to have been Levi’s choice: If This Is a Man.
In each case, the original title is more poetic, more ambiguous, and less upbeat. Yes, the quotes in this post refer to Levi’s reawakening to normal life. But as he describes in his nightmare, it’s not a totally successful reawakening. Sometimes he’s still in the nightmare, and has trouble knowing which world is real. Perhaps they both are real: thus, The Truce.
May the memory of Eli Sharabi’s family members be a blessing…somehow.
May the perpetrators of the inhuman crimes of October 7 tremble in fear as inevitable justice approaches.
In addition to having put thought into making the physical aspects of the Lager as horrible as possible, the Germans went after the mind, it seems.
I am amazed at how disarmed the Israelis were on Oct 7. Even in kibbutz, their weapons were kept locked up in separate rooms. The same disarming happened of course to European Jews. As someone commented, the German soldiers storming the attic hiding the Franks should’ve had to come up steps covered with their blood.
I think the Israelis have loosened up their laws somewhat but they’re still way more difficult to buy a personal weapon than in the United States. Thank God for the wisdom of our founders. Americans are using this freedom to buy firearms at a record pace.
A famous example from the Holocaust is Robert Clary, one of the stars of Hogan’s heroes. He was sent to the camps at age 16, and found out when he was liberated in 1945 that his parents and ten siblings had been murdered. (Apparently there were three other siblings that survived somehow.) He managed to lead a long, productive, and seemingly happy life. But losing one’s wife and children is far more traumatic, I would think.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/robert-clary-holocaust-survivor-who-starred-tvs-hogans-heroes-dies-96-2022-11-17/
What extraordinary writing.
Anyone who has read a book on Jews in the extermination camps in WW2 has a gut realization that the Democrat tactic of calling Trump a Nazi is a malicious lie.
But Democrat politicos aren’t the only ones to misuse the term. Consider the term “condo Nazi.” My former next-door neighbor was often called a “condo Nazi,” for his excessive complaints. For example, he complained about children bouncing a ball during the afternoon in their patios. I was one who called him a “condo Nazi.” A dearly departed friend, a Sephardic Jew from Morocco, did not like him being called a “condo Nazi.” She pointed out that the so-called “condo Nazi” was always polite and courteous to her. My error.
BTW, he eventually reduced his complaints, perhaps because I once called the police on him when he engaged in a shouting match. (I once tried to arbitrate one of his shouting matches. No more.)
Mrs Whatsir:
Yes, extraordinary. If you haven’t read either of those works, I highly highly recommend them. The mind of a scientist, the soul of a poet.
Today Dershowitz addressed the question:
–Alan Dershowitz, “What will Trump do if hostages aren’t returned by Saturday?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFIK-pjdarc
I’m an impatient fellow, as I’ve mentioned, so I often ask ChatGPT to summarize the text feed from a YouTube.
_____________________________________________
The text discusses the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, particularly focusing on the hostage situation and potential actions by Israel and the U.S. It references former President Trump’s emotional response to the release of some hostages, describing them as looking like Holocaust survivors. Trump has stated that if all hostages are not released by Saturday, “all hell will break loose,” but he did not specify direct U.S. involvement. Instead, he implied that the U.S. would give Israel the green light to take military action.
Israel is preparing for a possible resumption of hostilities, with reserves on standby. The Houthis have also threatened to attack Israel if the ceasefire ends. The text argues that Israel should take preemptive action against the Houthis and threaten Iran’s nuclear facilities if attacks continue from Iran or its proxies (Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis).
The author advocates for strong Israeli retaliatory measures, including permanently annexing land for each hostage killed. They criticize international organizations such as the UN, Amnesty International, and Doctors Without Borders, claiming they apply a double standard to democracies while ignoring the actions of terrorist groups. The text also criticizes media outlets like CNN and The New York Times for allegedly enabling Hamas by portraying Israel negatively.
The text suggests that Hamas is unlikely to release all hostages by Saturday, which could lead to renewed Israeli military action. It predicts that if the war resumes, Israel will face international condemnation despite Hamas’s tactics, which the author claims include deliberately placing civilians, including children, in harm’s way to generate negative media coverage against Israel.
_____________________________________________
I did listen to this part of the video and Chat’s summary is accurate, if bloodless.
My prediction yesterday was that Hamas would dribble out a few hostages to play for time. Dershowitz says that too.
THIS IS LEADERSHIP!! Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth woke up early to do PT w/ troops ahead of NATO meeting – Video
https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2025/02/this-is-leadership-defense-secretary.html
Yes, beautiful writing, I just ordered both.
Another side note on Robert Clary. When he came to the US, he had nothing. Al Jolson took him under his wing. Robert married Jolson’s daughter.
I don’t know if anyone will read this, because it is late.
But, if Hamas thinks calling Trump’s bluff is a good thing, I believe that they will mistaken, rudely.
SHIREHOME- I hope you’re right.
It will be up to Israel to carry out Trump’s threat. Trump’s giving them the green light allows them to go all out, but my guess is they will still be somewhat restrained, though more aggressive than when Biden was handicapping them. And no “humanitarian aid,” I would hope.
Hamas may now be too smart or too leary, but I could see putting some form of listening devices in bottles of water or food containers, etc., so that if/when Hamas takes them there will be a form of signal tracking – presuming it is not discovered first. Would not have to be inserted or hidden in every item of aid.
The power of the written word is highly underrated in this electronic age, where pictures and video are used excessively to tell “the story”.
When I was young (in the 1950’s) there were a number TV series (Crusade in Europe, Victory at Sea, etc) that aired on Saturday mornings (at least in Detroit), about the War in both Europe and the Pacific. My brothers and I were about 8, 9 and 10 years old at the time. My parents, especially my father, who had been a gunner on B-24s flying bombing runs from Italy, were OK with us watching these, and felt that everyone should watch them and absorb the content. Some of the episodes covered the liberation of the concentration camps in graphic detail. I was, of course, shocked by these scenes and have never forgotten them, but it was a shock without any true understanding of the background or depth of the horror that had truly transpired.
Fast forward about 10 years to my time in college. I was then and still am, a voracious reader, and one of the books I read at that time was “Night” by Eli Wiesel. This chronicle of evil was true horror to me. This book, of the thousands I’ve read, is one that has had a profound effect on me and has shaped my view of people and of the world. It’s impact was orders of magnitude greater than the photos and film I had seen years earlier, as it gives an account of the suffering and feelings of those being victimized: the fear, pain, powerlessness, frustration, despair and self loathing. They say that “a picture is worth a thousand words”…superficially, yes, but not for a true attempt at understanding. I have ordered “Survival in Auschwitz” and “The Reawakening”.
In the 1990s and early 2000s much of my writing endeavors were centered on writing about the Holocaust. The result was a published book on the subject plus associated writings, and many many hours of interviews with Holocaust survivors.
If I’m ever within reaching distance of a Holocaust denier — or, for that mater, any virulent outspoken anti-semite, that person is going to get punched in the face.
So say I.
Related….
“First letters of people of faith after the Holocaust…”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/403788
FWIW, “Iron”, in Primo Levi’s “The Periodic Table”, made a huge impression on me.
(The whole book, though uneven, is impressive and an extraordinary conceit.)
“Victory at Sea” was said to have run more series on more local stations than any other. Its sound track was so popular you could get the LP album.
And lots and lots of kids of the early boomer generation watched it.
Still available on youtube.
We knew a good deal about WW II, not merely from out fathers, which has been absent by about 95% from following generations.