Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., April 30, 2008 Nisan 25, 5768 | | Israel Time: 23:37 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

'The little ones will go first' By Haggai Hitron Tags: ZOA House, Tel Aviv, Yiddish The most famous of them is Janusz Korczak. There were thousands: Jewish teachers who sought to maintain a viable cultural and educational experience in the shadow of impending death, and most of them were murdered together with their students. Tonight the Yiddishspiel Theater resurrects them in a show at ZOA House in Tel Aviv - Halokh Yelkhu L'ein Ketz" (They Will Go on Forever). The actors will also tell stories about Mira Bernstein, a teacher from the Vilna ghetto, and physical education teacher Freddy Hirsch, who was active in the Birkenau camp inside Auschwitz. Korczak's work will be recalled in a segment from "The Post Office" by Rabindranath Tagore, which is a play that was presented at the orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto four days before the teacher and his students were sent to their death. The play is about a dying boy, and Korczak said he chose it to prepare the children to accept death with dignity and tranquillity. Mira Bernstein's efforts are described by poet Abraham Sutzkever in a well-known poem that will be read tonight in its original Yiddish with a Hebrew translation appearing on a screen. Advertisement Later there will be a shadow-theater production of a segment from Y.L. Peretz's "Three Gifts," a play that Bernstein produced with her students at the school that was set up in the ghetto. In a book he wrote after the war, Sutzkever recalled a performance of this play in the ghetto in October 1941, which was interrupted smack in the middle: "During the play, in the section about the second gift, a shot was heard and Mira went out to see what happened. On the streets and in the alleys, people were being grabbed. Mira came in, went up on stage and said, 'Children, those who want to destroy us are here in the ghetto. No one shout. Quietly crawl under the stage. The little ones will go first.'" In a poem about Mira Bernstein, Sutzkever wrote: "ties ribbons in their hair and counts/ there are 130 glorious heads / just like the sun rises and lights up,/ Mira will also rise to wait for her children/ they are here. She counts and woe is she!/ Twenty were cut by a knife that same night." Who was Freddy Hirsch? This event will also focus on the rather mysterious episode of physical education teacher Freddy Hirsch, who managed to persuade the Germans to set up a school in Birkenau, near the crematoria. The school functioned for around six months, from the end of 1943, and among other things presented a performance of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" on Christmas. The Yiddishspiel Theater actors will reenact that night using papier-mache dolls and testimony from the stories of Ruth Bondy and Inge Deutschkron. The production is directed by Moti Averbuch. Hirsch, born in Germany in 1916, was an outstanding athlete and a member of the Young Maccabi movement, and when Germany enacted the race laws, he moved to Prague and from there was sent to Theresienstadt, where he was a beloved sport and fitness teacher. On September 6, 1943, 7,005 women and children were taken from Theresienstadt and send to Auschwitz. Leading the group were Dr. Leo Yanovitz and Freddy Hirsch. The history of this transport is odd: For the first time in the history of the Jewish transports, there was no selection, the deportees were not forced to wear prisoner's uniforms with blue stripes and were transferred to an empty camp known as "the families camp." However, in the prisoners' files in the main camp of Auschwitz, the notation "SB" was written, indicating that they would be put to death within the coming six months. Hirsch managed to persuade Joseph Mengele that the children should be provided with some kind of employment and for that purpose received a hut adjacent to the clinic. A group of counselors was mobilized to work with 500 children aged 8-14. The children and the counselors decorated the hut, which did not have windows, painted the walls with scenic panoramas, Eskimos and Indians. There were games there, books were read and performances arranged, including "Snow White" for which 12-year-old Harry Krauss built a set. On March 6, 1944, Hirsch was transferred to the neighboring death camp and took his whistle with him. Later on it was discovered that he committed suicide by swallowing poison. "Halokh Yelkhu L'ein Ketz" with the Yiddishspiel Theater, tonight, at 19:30 at ZOA House in Tel Aviv. Editor and director: Moti Averbuch. Music: Thierry Vider (featuring cello, flute and piano). Free admission. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Deterring Tehran Bush: Disclosure of IAF strike on Syria sends a message to Iran. A lesser evil In Haaretz issue from 1932, Hitler makes a better impression than expected.

Read & React Syrian emissary: We won't cut Iran ties for peace with Israel Responses: 194 Islamic Jihad: Willing to accept truce only if Gaza siege lifted Responses: 121 Y. Sheleg: Holocaust shows Europe must not be silent in face of fundamentalist Islam Responses: 150 U.S. Jewish leaders call for boycott of Beijing Olympics Responses: 72 Uzi Benziman: Israel mustn't jump to blame enemy for tragedies like Gaza deaths Responses: 52 More Headlines 23:33 Peres at Holocaust memorial: World must not ignore modern global threats 22:56 Understanding the Holocaust 22:41 Palestinians: Militant killed, 3 others hurt in IAF strike on Gaza 23:02 Survey: 52% of Israeli teens say Israel faces existential threat 21:43 Islamic Jihad: Cease-fire agreement conditioned on lifting of Gaza siege 21:56 Libya stands by comparison of Nazi concentration camps, Gaza 22:47 During surprise talks in Amman, Abdullah tells PM peace deal must be reached by year's end 20:12 As Qassams pound Negev, Sderot residents urge boycott of Independence Day 21:41 Gilad Shalit`s father: Gaza truce must include my son`s release 18:41 B'Tselem: IDF probe into death of Gazan family not enough 21:33 Germany opens world's largest archive of Nazi documents 17:16 Is Israel finished? Five questions Previous Editions Select Day 29 apr 28 apr 27 apr 25 apr 24 apr 23 apr 22 apr 21 apr 20 apr 18 apr 17 apr 16 apr

Special Offers Advertisement Pardes Institute Summer Sessions http://www.pardes.org.il/programs/summer/summer_sessions/summer_s.php FAREWELL ISRAEL New Film The Coming War for Islamic Revival - View Movie Trailer The interest rates haven't changed But your profits will! Learn Hebrew online with Israel's best teachers Sign up for a trial lesson today Free the Palestinians from: Corrupt Kleptocracy, Tyrannical Theocracy, Abysmal Anarchy Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved