As a child, she fled from the Nazis. She’ll share her story for Holocaust Education Week | Opinion

On a cold, crisp night in November in Germany, Jewish families woke up to the sounds of breaking glass as their businesses and synagogues were being destroyed by Nazi troops. The Jews called the night “Kristallnacht — The Night of Broken Glass.” The event marked the beginning of years of sorrow, to become known as the Holocaust.

In a few days, we will observe Holocaust Education Week. Throughout Nov. 7-12, we will be reminded, again, of the horrors of one of the darkest times in modern history — when six million Jews, and thousands of others that the Hitler regime deemed unfit to live — were sent to the gas chambers. We remember this history because we don’t ever want it to happen again.

To kick off Holocaust Education Week, Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff will be the guest speaker for a Virtual Commemoration of Kristallnacht at 6 p.m. on Nov. 7. She will tell the story of how she escaped the gas chambers in 1941 via Portugal.

She still has a picture of herself as a child arriving at the train station in Lisbon, the first stop on her journey to America. On Sept. 20, Kassenoff found herself in the same train station, when she was invited to speak to the Jewish community in Lisbon and Porto Portugal, where there’s a new Holocaust museum.

“I had a déjà-vu moment, when I realized it was the exact train station I had arrived at in 1941, after seven months of running and hiding with my parents trying to escape Nazi Europe.” She said back then Lisbon had ships waiting for Jews to get them to freedom to U.S. if once could make the dangerous trip, which we did by trains.” The program will include a dramatic reading and tributes to Holocaust victims and will honor survivors’ resilience.

According to a press release, Holocaust Education Week is community-wide program of the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach, a committee of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. Because of COVID, all programming throughout the week, except for the Nov. 11 outdoor film screening, will be virtual.

The legacy of the Holocaust will be presented through cultural, academic, and personal perspectives in a series of film presentations, lectures, and community discussions throughout the week. In addition to Kassenoff’s presentation, events include:

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Nov. 8: Visages of Memory: Images of Survivors at 11 a.m

The program will feature Laszlo Selly, a Holocaust survivor who will take participants on a journey of discovery through his biographical photographs of survivors from Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Poland, Romania, and the former Soviet Union. Through his photographs Selly reveals resilience and strength, stories of survival. He will discuss his exhibition and share biographic tidbits.

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Nov. 8: The Survivors Journey: Holocaust Memorial/Walk Tour Exploration at 4 p.m.

This segment of the program is geared to teachers, who are invited to experience the premiere of a special interactive, location-based mobile application created by the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach especially for school classrooms. The award-winning program is in partnership with the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation and allows teachers to track students’ progress and provide commentary as they follow a grade appropriate path through the memorial. The virtual program will be presented by the memorial and David Reese, a language arts teacher at Miami Beach High School.

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Nov. 9: Kristallnacht: Through the Eyes of the Karliner Family at 11 a.m.

The Karliner’s family store was ransacked, and its accounts ledger was destroyed on the night of Kristallnacht, which ushered in the Holocaust 83 years ago. Herbert Kariner was 12 years old. That night he watched as his father was arrested and sent to the Buchenwald Detention Camp. The Karliner family’s story will be shared in a seven-minute film, presented by Holocaust scholar Dr. Michael Berenbaum. A discussion will follow.

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Nov. 10: We Share the Same Sky: A Granddaughter Traces Her Survivor Grandmother’s Story at 12:30 p.m.

Rachel Cerrotti, author of the book “We Share the Same Sky: A Memoir of Memory and Migration” will host this segment of the program. She will discuss the journey that led her to trace the life of her grandmother, a Holocaust survivor in Eastern Europe before and after World War II.

When her beloved grandmother died, Cerrotti discovered pictures, diaries and letters that motivated her to trace her grandmother’s incredible story, which she shares through her podcast and memoirs.

This event is co-sponsored by the Galbut Family Miami Beach Jewish Community Center and the University of Miami Holocaust Teacher Institute.

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Nov. 11: Outdoor Film Screening: The Zookeeper’s Wife, 8 p.m., Wallcast At Soundscape Park, 400 17th Ave. in Miami Beach. 

The entire family will enjoy watching the compelling true story of Antonia and Jan Zabinska, managers of the Warsaw Zoo during World War II, and who were a part of the underground resistance movement and saved over 300 Jews by hiding them at the zoo and in their home.

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Nov. 13: Surviving the Nazis in Warsaw, Poland: 9:20 a.m.

Allan Hall, a Holocaust survivor will share his story from his early memories of fleeing Krakow, Poland in the first days of the war to liberation and escape from communist Poland. He spent two years hiding in a small supply closet with his mother, in an office building in downtown Warsaw. He and his parents and infant brother eventually made their way to the United States.

Advance reservations are necessary to gain access to each individual event and can be made at www.holocaustmemorialmiamibeach.org.

St. Basil’s to hold outdoor flea market

For the first time, St. Basil Catholic Church at 1475 NE 199th St. will have an outdoor Flea Market. In past years, the church has held the flea market indoors. This year, due to COVID-19, the event will be held outside on the church grounds.

The flea market will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 6 and will include live music, food, and crafts. Interested vendors may call 786-320-5225 to rent a space.

Bea Hines can be reached at bea.hines@gmail.com.