Comemorarea Holocaustului: Liana Herman – M-am născut MAIDANEK / Holocaust commemoration: Liana Herman – I was born MAIDANEK / ציון השואה: ליאנה הרמן – נולדתי מיידנקציון השואה: ליאנה הרמן

Liana Herman își împărtășește mărturia emoționantă despre rădăcinile sale evreiești din Turnu Severin și povestea numelui "Maidanek", purtând cu ea ecoul tragediei Holocaustului din Transnistria și promisiunea părinților supraviețuitori.

ANIMA NEWS - M-am născut în Turnu Severin, un oraș superb pe malul Dunării, unde cuvintele evreu sau jidan erau aproape necunoscute fiindcă în oraș trăiau numai câțiva evrei scăpătați de origine sefardă care, evident, nu deranjau pe nimeni.

Eu m-am născut în 1950, trei ani mai târziu a venit pe lume și fratele meu. Locuiam cu mama, tata și "otata" (bunicul din partea tatălui meu). Numele nostru de familie era Maidanek. L-am întrebat o dată pe "otata" de unde vine numele ăsta și mi-a răspuns că nu știe, dar presupune că familia lui se trage din această localitate din Polonia.

Cum să bănuiască strămoșii mei că acest loc va ajunge unul de tristă amintire pentru toți evreii din lume?

Încă de mici părinții ne-au inoculat ideea că noi trebuie să demonstrăm că suntem inteligenți, harnici și buni fiindcă suntem EVREI.

Nu cred că înțelegeam noi exact care era diferența între noi și alți copii, deși acasă vorbeam germana și cam de două ori pe an, la sărbătorile importante, mergeam la "templu", adică la sinagogă, unde ne întâlneam cu puținii evrei care locuiau în urbea noastră.

Tata era dentist, prin urmare situația noastră materială era favorizată, aveam ciocolată, portocale, jucării și, din când în când mama povestea prietenelor ei că ei sunt supraviețuitori ai lagărelor de exterminare din Transnistria și că și-au promis reciproc că, dacă destinul le va da copii, aceștia nu vor duce lipsa de nimic.

Absolut întotdeauna, dacă rămâneau resturi de pâine pe masă, mama spunea: ”Dacă bunica voastră ar fi avut coaja asta de pâine, nu ar fi murit”.

Bunica, mama tatălui meu, deci soacra mamei mele, murise în brațele mamei mele (a fost o dragoste reală și puternică între ele) la vârstă de 53 de ani, la Moghilev în Transnistria. Ea a murit de foame. Ultima ei dorință, evident neîndeplinită, a fost "Milchkaffee" (cafea cu lapte).

A fost aruncată într-o groapă comună. O chema Lena, nume care la mine a devenit Liana.

Mama nu arunca niciodată mâncare.

Cred că asta e o trăsătură care mi s-a transmis în sânge. Când gătesc ceva bun, alerg la prieteni și le dau acel "ceva bun" în cutie. Resturile gătite ajung la pisicile din cartier, iar pâinea ajunge la păsărele.

Am urmărit la televizor, ieri și azi, mărturiile unor fericiți ai soartei care au trecut prin infernul Holocaustului, în așa de multe locuri de pe hartă, dar au depășit soarta celor 6 milioane. Toți au ramuri de urmași în 3-4 generații.

La întrebarea: Ce-ți mai dorești în viață?, cunoscutul dirijor, pianist și compozitor Laszlo Roth, originar din Timișoara (supraviețuitor al lagărului din Auschwitz) în vârstă de 105 ani a spus: ”Încă puțin, atât cât crede Dumnezeu, să rămân în viață, să fiu activ în domeniul muzicii”.

Noi toți, evrei originari din România și de pe toată planeta, nu visăm nimic altceva decât ani buni, cu sănătate, lumină și liniște sufletească! (Liana Herman, Anima News)

Liana Herman

Liana Herman shares her poignant testimony about her Jewish roots in Turnu Severin and the story of her surname "Maidanek," carrying the echo of the Holocaust's tragedy in Transnistria and her survivor parents' promise.

ANIMA NEWS - I was born in Turnu Severin, a superb city on the banks of the Danube, where the words Jew or Yid were almost unknown because only a few impoverished Jews of Sephardic origin lived in the city who, obviously, bothered no one. I was born in 1950, and three years later my brother was born. We lived with my mother, father, and "otata" (my paternal grandfather). Our family name was Maidanek. I once asked "otata" where this name came from, and he replied that he didn't know, but he assumed his family originated from this locality in Poland. How could my ancestors suspect that this place would become a sad memory for all Jews in the world? From an early age, our parents instilled in us the idea that we must demonstrate that we are intelligent, hardworking, and kind because we are JEWS. I don't think we understood exactly what the difference was between us and other children, although at home we spoke German, and about twice a year, for important holidays, we went to the "temple," meaning the synagogue, where we met the few Jews who lived in our town. My father was a dentist, so our financial situation was favorable; we had chocolate, oranges, toys, and from time to time my mother would tell her friends that they were survivors of the extermination camps in Transnistria and that they had promised each other that if fate gave them children, they would want for nothing. Absolutely always, if there were leftover bread crumbs on the table, my mother would say: "If your grandmother had had this crust of bread, she would not have died." My grandmother, my father's mother, so my mother's mother-in-law, died in my mother's arms (there was a real and strong love between them) at the age of 53, in Mogilev, Transnistria. She died of starvation. Her last wish, obviously unfulfilled, was "Milchkaffee" (coffee with milk). She was thrown into a mass grave. Her name was Lena, a name that became Liana for me. My mother never threw away food. I think that's a trait that was passed down to me in my blood. When I cook something good, I rush to my friends and give them that "something good" in a box. Leftover cooked food goes to the neighborhood cats, and bread goes to the birds. I watched on television, yesterday and today, the testimonies of some fortunate individuals who went through the inferno of the Holocaust, in so many places on the map, but overcame the fate of the 6 million. All of them have branches of descendants in 3-4 generations. To the question: What more do you wish for in life? the renowned conductor, pianist, and composer Laszlo Roth, originally from Timișoara (a survivor of the Auschwitz camp) at the age of 105, said: "Just a little more, as much as God believes, to stay alive, to be active in the field of music." All of us, Jews originally from Romania and from all over the planet, dream of nothing else but good years, with health, light, and peace of mind! (Liana Herman, Anima News)

ליאנה הרמן חולקת עדות מרגשת על שורשיה היהודיים בטורנו סברין וסיפור השם "מיידנק", נושאת את ההד לאסון השואה בטרנסניסטריה ואת הבטחת הוריה הניצולים.

ANIMA NEWS - נולדתי בטורנו סברין, עיר נהדרת על גדות הדנובה, שבה המילים יהודי או ייד היו כמעט בלתי מוכרות, משום שבעיר חיו רק כמה יהודים ספרדים עניים, שכמובן לא הפריעו לאיש. נולדתי בשנת 1950, ושלוש שנים לאחר מכן נולד אחי. גרנו עם אמא, אבא ו"אוטאטה" (סבא שלי מצד אבי). שם משפחתנו היה מיידנק. פעם שאלתי את "אוטאטה" מאיפה השם הזה מגיע, והוא ענה שאינו יודע, אך משער שמשפחתו מקורה מהמקום הזה בפולין. איך יכלו אבותיי לחשוד שמקום זה יהפוך לזיכרון עצוב לכל היהודים בעולם? מילדותנו ההורים החדירו בנו את הרעיון שעלינו להוכיח שאנחנו חכמים, חרוצים וטובים כי אנחנו יהודים. איני חושבת שהבנו בדיוק מה היה ההבדל בינינו לבין ילדים אחרים, אם כי בבית דיברנו גרמנית, וכפעמיים בשנה, בחגים חשובים, הלכנו ל"טמפל", כלומר לבית הכנסת, שם נפגשנו עם מעט היהודים שחיו בעירנו. אבא היה רופא שיניים, ולכן מצבנו הכלכלי היה טוב; היה לנו שוקולד, תפוזים, צעצועים, ומידי פעם אמא סיפרה לחברותיה שהם ניצולי מחנות ההשמדה בטרנסניסטריה ושהם הבטיחו זה לזו שאם הגורל יעניק להם ילדים, הם לא יחסרו להם דבר. תמיד, אם נשארו שאריות לחם על השולחן, אמא הייתה אומרת: "אילו סבתכם הייתה מקבלת את קרום הלחם הזה, היא לא הייתה מתה." סבתי, אמו של אבי, כלומר חמותה של אמי, נפטרה בזרועות אמי (הייתה ביניהן אהבה אמיתית וחזקה) בגיל 53, במוגילב שבטרנסניסטריה. היא מתה מרעב. משאלתה האחרונה, כמובן שלא מומשה, הייתה "מילך קפה" (קפה עם חלב). היא הושלכה לקבר אחים. שמה היה לנה, שם שאצלי הפך לליאנה. אמא מעולם לא זרקה אוכל. אני חושבת שזו תכונה שעברה אליי בדם. כשאני מבשלת משהו טוב, אני רצה לחברים ונותנת להם את ה"משהו הטוב" הזה בקופסה. שאריות האוכל המבושל מגיעות לחתולים בשכונה, והלחם מגיע לציפורים. צפיתי בטלוויזיה, אתמול והיום, בעדויותיהם של כמה ברי מזל שעברו את תופת השואה, במקומות כה רבים על המפה, אך התגברו על גורלם של 6 מיליון. לכולם יש ענפים של צאצאים ב-3-4 דורות. לשאלה: מה אתה עוד רוצה בחיים? המנצח, הפסנתרן והמלחין הנודע לסלו רוט, יליד טימישוארה (ניצול מחנה אושוויץ) בן 105, אמר: "רק עוד קצת, כפי שהאל מאמין, להישאר בחיים, להיות פעיל בתחום המוזיקה." כולנו, יהודים ילידי רומניה ומכל כדור הארץ, לא חולמים על דבר מלבד שנים טובות, עם בריאות, אור ושלוות נפש! (ליאנה הרמן, Anima News)