By Chance Alone (21 page)

After decades of working as a committed and inspiring Holocaust speaker, Max wrote this memoir as a gift to his readers and a guarantee that his memories will endure for future generations. Despite several false starts and the nightmares that invaded his sleep when deep memories resurfaced, Max was determined to commit his story to paper—an act that speaks to his persistence and fortitude. Like many Holocaust survivors, he lived in part because of luck and circumstance, in part because of his relationships with people who afforded him lifesaving advice or a kind gesture, and in part because of his own personal strength, which allowed him to get through one impossible day after another. Working so closely with Max in the editing of this memoir is one of the highlights of my scholarly career, and I cherish the friendship we have developed over the last five years. His story is now yours.

—Amanda Grzyb, PhD

O
f approximately sixty members of my extended family, only three of us survived: me; my maternal first cousin, Lily Friedman Kalish; and my paternal first cousin, Chaim (Tibor) Lazarovits. After the war, Lily immigrated to the United States and married an American veteran. She was the spitting image of my mother, and once I settled in Canada, we spoke on the phone biweekly. Chaim immigrated to Israel in
1947
and married an Israeli woman; I saw him annually in the last fifteen years of his life. Lily passed away on July
23
,
2014
, at the age of eighty-nine, and Chaim passed away on July
31
,
2015
, at the age of eighty-five. They were the only remnant of my first family, and the only people with whom I could reminisce about our previous life and our beloved family members—I am grateful for the bond that we shared after the Holocaust. Their deaths hit me hard and I feel the loss every day.

I would like to acknowledge all the people who assisted me in my recovery period after my initial return to Czechoslovakia as a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. Ily Klinka, our
family friend and neighbour, saw my distress and provided swift motherly actions, which led me to the St. Elizabeth Hospital in KoÅ ice. The dedicated nuns at St. Elizabeth pulled me through several difficult weeks of treatment for pleurisy. Joseph and Malvinka Gottlieb took me into their home without hesitation and gave me sustenance, and they, together with six others—their three daughters, Ilonka, Clari, and Shari; their son, Itzhak; their cousin Ruty; and their friend Magda—all contributed to a welcoming atmosphere and created a “home” for me. Malvinka's wonderful meals reminded me of my mother's and grandmother's preparations, and enabled me to put on weight and regain vitality.

As I continued along in my journey to health, I was assisted by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, which supported a school for Jewish studies and vocational services in Marienbad, Czechoslovakia. The three years I spent there renewed my spirit, both physically and mentally. As the three years were coming to an end, Rabbi Abraham Price of Toronto was instrumental in securing my visa to come to Canada.

I want to acknowledge the support of the Holocaust Education Centre (under the auspices of the Jewish Federation of Toronto), which gave me the opportunity to speak to students from public schools, high schools, and universities, as well as adult groups. Likewise, I want to recognize the March of the Living Canada, under the direction of Eli Rubenstein and Michael Soberman. They demonstrate exceptional leadership and dedication, and provide an important service to the community. I acknowledge, too, all the friends, professors, students, and teachers who have provided a constant platform for me to expound on the lessons of the Shoah. I am hopeful the
information I have offered will make a difference for them in the future, for the betterment of humankind.

My granddaughter Tziporah Sarah with my great-grandchildren: Yehudit (right), Elisheva (left), and Michael Aharon.

I am very thankful to the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, under the direction of Avi Benlolo and his support staff, for giving me the opportunity to speak as a survivor educator in many of their educational programs. The Wiesenthal Center does important outreach work in the public sphere to educate and inform about the Holocaust and genocide. It was on one of their annual “Compassion to Action” missions to Poland that I met Jim Gifford, the editorial director for non-fiction at HarperCollins, who has been so supportive of my memoir project. I am grateful for Jim's editorial advice, his kindness, and his friendship. I am also indebted to my talented copyeditor, Janice Weaver, who went over the manuscript with such care and professionalism, and to my wonderful production editor, Maria Golikova, who helped keep the project on track. Professor Robert Jan van Pelt was kind enough to meet with me in Oświęcim in Summer
2015
, and he helped me obtain releases for historical photographs of Auschwitz.

It seems to me that the stars were aligned in March
2010
when I first met Professor Amanda Grzyb, from the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario, on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's inaugural mission to Poland. Through our common interest in Holocaust education, the seeds of our relationship were sown, and she played a vital role in the writing of this book. When I met Amanda, I had been speaking as a survivor educator for many years, but it was difficult for me to put my experiences down on paper. Amanda understood my frustrations and graciously offered her editorial assistance to help me overcome the obstacles that were preventing me from writing. With her help, I found my voice and my method of self-expression, and everything seemed to flow natur
ally from that point. Her research assistants, Amaal Mohamed Bhaloo, Kaitlyn Bida, and Jennifer Schmidt, assisted us both by transcribing our interviews. Amanda is a generous, thoughtful, and caring person, who has dedicated herself to educating others about the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, and other social injustices. I am proud to have her as a friend. I'm very grateful that she invested her valuable time in reading and editing my manuscript. She gave me the confidence to continue in an organized fashion, with a clear goal in mind. With her encouragement, I delved deep into the past and was able to bring long-forgotten, terrifying experiences to the forefront of my memory.

Our granddaughter Julie.

Finally, I want to express my deepest appreciation to my family. My in-laws, Rose and Sam Cosman, listened to my story and helped me along my journey. They became my second set of parents, and all their family members—their sons, Malcolm and Alvin, and their uncles, aunts, cousins, and sisters-in-law—accepted me in every respect. I owe an eternal gratitude to my beloved wife, Ivy, and my sons, Ed (who was a sounding board throughout this entire process) and Larry (who designed the maps in this book), for their love, support, and encouragement. They make my ship sail smoothly and are the stabilizers in my life. They are always there for me, and I can always count on their steadfastness. I'm fortunate to have two granddaughters, Amy Tzipporah Sarah and Julie Mina Leah, who have brought me great joy. And now a fourth generation is coming along, with three great-grandchildren so far: Yehudit, Elisheva, and Michael Aharon.

I send this book to publication with a feeling of great accomplishment. It was difficult to complete, but I'm relieved that my story can be shared with my family and others, who I hope will gain insight from it. Thank you for reading my words.

A
DDITIONAL
D
OCUMENTS

In 1995 I discovered that my father and uncle were victims of Nazi medical experiments. Dr. Carson Phillips of the Neuberger Holocaust Centre in Toronto found documents showing their names on a July 1944 selection list in the Auschwitz archives.

This and the following letter demostrate the dispassionate and mechanical approach of the engineers and SS officials involved in the logistics of mass murder.

Translation:

[Top left: Rubber stamp of the Topf management secretariat, dated 6th December 1941, with the initials of the directors:
LT
for Ludwig Topf and
ET
for Ernst-Wolfgang Topf, and the inscription
for reply
and
replied on
]

Erfurt, 6th December 1941

To Messrs

Ludwig and Ernst Wolfgang Topf

Inside the house

Dear Messrs Topf,

As you know, I designed both the 3 muffle and 8 muffle cremation furnaces, and this using mainly my free time—at home.

These furnace constructions pioneer the way for the future and I venture to hope that you will grant me a bonus for the work involved.

Heil Hitler!

Kurt Prüfer

On the order of LT/ET,

150 RM
paid 24/12/41

[Initials]

(Braun), agreed

? must discuss

T