Reflections on Miriam

Miriam is a child survivor of the Holocaust. She does not remember what she saw or how she felt during her escape from Nazi persecution. Yet, as she sat with us and told us her story, it was evident there was a sense of sadness about her that came from her Holocaust experience, even though she has no memory of it.

This leads me to believe that no matter how a person is affected by the Holocaust-- whether it is direct, indirect, through family, through friends, in memory, or not in memory, the Holocaust will always be a significant event that changed their lives forever. For those affected by the terrifying event, the Holocaust would have somehow influenced their lives in some way. Holocaust survivors now-- adult or child, with memory of the event or not-- will always feel a sense of trauma and fear because things now wouldn't be the way they are if the Holocaust had not happened.

Those like myself who were not there will never understand.

Genevieve points out a phrase in one of her blog entries: "If one dies it is a tragedy, if thousands die it is a statistic". Miriam is just one out of many victims of the Holocaust, but I will always remember her story forever.

A poem dedicated to Miriam...

Pile of Shoes

There in Auschwitz

In those pile of shoes

It could have been me.

Only Three

But instead...

Siberia. Iran. Israel.

We ran.

My brave mother

She dyed her hair blonde

My brave father

He lost his right hand

We ran, we ran, we ran.

Cold. Hunger. Malaria. War.

1991

I went back to visit.

There in Auschwitz

In those pile of shoes

It could have been me.

Only Three

Miriam Tasini was three years old when her family escaped Nazi persecution and found a new life in Israel after the war. It's been many years and she's never experienced the concentration camps herself, but Miriam will never forget the stories she heard as a child of the horrid camp experiences fellow survivors of the Holocaust told.

For the first time since the war ended, she went back to Poland and visited Auschwitz in 1991 where she saw a pile of children's shoes. And she said to us, "that could have been me."

I will attempt to do describe the people in this picture.

Back Row: starting from right to left, the second man, the tallest is Miriam's father, Marcus Finder. His sister is next to him. The men on the corners are brother's in Law.

The next row i.e. those sitting down from Right to left. First woman is Marcus' sister, Marcus' father, Marcus' Mother, and his other sister. The children: the one standing in front of Marcus' father, survived the Holocaust and is one of Miriam's closest cousins, the other two did not survive.

I hope this is somewhat clear. I used Marcus as the reference point because this is the way that Miriam described the picture.

This is a picture of Miriam as a child. She was born in Poland, Warsaw to be precise.

Mystery Suitcase?

Mystery suitcase, not quite, but it could be. This suitcase was carried by Miriam's mom throughout their journeys during the Holocaust. It was donated to the Holocaust Museum, and Miriam only has the picture now. She doesn't know why her mother treasured the suitcase, so much, but she is certain it had some value to her mother, who carried across many countries and was not parted from it.

Miriam's story?

These are the pictures that commemorate the life of Miriam's family. You will see them up close soon!! You might be wondering when we will share the stories of courage and determination that Miriam shared with us. We would love to because they are fascinating, but you will have to wait for Miriam's book to be published. She shared her story with us, but asked us to keep the story to ourself, for now, since her book will be coming out soon, and she doesn't want the information to be released prior to her book.

Meeting Miriam Tasini

It was a fun and enlightening night at Miriam's home in Bel Air tonight, where not only Sandra, Cynthia, and I met for the first time, but also where I learned a Holocaust survivor's story for the very first time.

The door of a quiet, single-story, wooden home opens up to a beautiful amber-lit living room, where we were warmly greeted by Miriam's welcoming husband.

For two hours, Miriam (pictured third from left) told us the story of her life-- and most significantly, her experience and knowledge of the Holocaust. She showed us photos of her past with ones dated all the way back to the 1920s. She also showed us documents she has preserved with ones also dated all the way back to the 1920s.

Miriam is an active, enthusiastic, and extremely intelligent woman, whose knowledge of and experience with the Holocaust has shown me a side of the Shoah I have never heard before. I was shocked, fascinated, and terrified of what she has told of her experience.

One interesting fact I learned:

There are still $32 billion worth of Jewish property still unclaimed in Poland.

Stay tuned for more about Miriam Tasini!!!

A little bit about Miriam...

Tonight is the night we finally meet Miriam.

Miriam Tasini is a child survivor of the Holocaust, who was only 3 years old when the Holocaust occured. The story she has to tell is her parent's story and her story after the war.

Miriam currently resides in Los Angeles where she practices Geriatric Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry and Psychiatry. She is a retired professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA. Most recently, she is coming out with a book about her Holocaust story, which is in the process of editing.

I don't know what to expect...
What does she remember? What does she have to tell?

We'll find out tonight!

Possible interview Questions

I know we are suppose to start our blog once we interview our survivor, but the anticipation is building up. We have the interview scheduled for Thursday the 8th.

Possible interview questions for Miriam

Before the war

1. What city were you born in? When were your born.

2. Can you describe the city/town? Jews/ Non Jews

3. What language did you speak?

4. Describe your family, including the role of your mother and father in

the household and their occupations. Describe your family life and your

daily life. Childhood Recollections?

5. What was your favorite thing to do when you were growing up?

6. What type of education did you receive? Secular? Religious?

During the War

1. Was your family politically affiliated?
2. How did you become aware of the Nazi presence? Do you remember the first day of occupation? Any recollections of seeing the Nazis? Experiences? Feelings? Discussions? If you were a child, how did your parents or other adults respond to the Nazi presence?
3. Did you live in the guetto? Specific living conditions—food, sanitation, medical facilities.
4. When were you taken to the camp? Where you given a job? How ddi you get this job.
5. How did people treat each other in the camp?
6. Give names and recollections of those with whom you worked.
7. What was your emotional state? What kept you going?
8. Do you remember the date you were liberated?
9. What happened after liberation? Refugee camp? Did you concider going somewhere else other than the U.S.
10. Specific living conditions—food, sanitation, medical facilities.
11. Describe your evacuation.

After the war

1. Describe your circumstances leading up to liberation. What was your physical and mental state?
2. Feelings? Fears, dreams, hopes, questions?
3. What happened to perpetrators? Prisoner functionaries? Any retaliation from prisoners to their former captors?
4. Did you talk about your experiences? Who listened?
5. To where did you emigrate? When, why, and how?
6. Do you think that survivors with a wide range of Holocaust experiences share commonalities? Describe.

Choosing a name.

This blog is dedicated to Miriam. We (students of csun) are in a joint class with students of LMU and we will be interviewing people who survived the Holocaust. The title of this project is Survivor Project for lack of a better title. However, having said that we have read the Shawl by Cynthia Ozick, in which her character Rosa resents the name "survivor", for survivor seems to deny her humanity. Rosa would rather be called "human being". The word survivor has been used to categorize those people who were victims of the atrocities that happened during World War II.

Miriam is our survivor which means she is the woman who lived through the Holocaust and will be sharing her story with us.

Our group: Olivia from LMU, Cynthia from Csun and Me, Sandra from CSUN