Page 24 - Jewish News_April 2020

24A April 2020 JEWISH INTEREST

Liberation, April 1945

By Paul R. Bartrop, PhD By Arlene Stolnitz

eventy-five years ago this month by the Swedish Red Cross and the Dan- brück also served as a training base for brück Archive at Lund University in ith Passover approaching,
saw April 1945, a momentous ish government, known collectively as female guards, and eventually some Sweden has loaned the Library valu- the name of the group Let
Stime for the surviving Jews of the “White Buses” initiative. The term 3,500 women were trained there for able artifacts from the survivors. The WMy People Sing! caught my
Europe languishing in concentration “White Buses” was employed because work in this and other camps. Malmö Museum, which houses the eye recently. After researching it, I dis-
camps. With the end the vehicles were painted white with Most of the camp was evacuated White Bus Collection, has agreed to covered this is not a group connected
of the war, prisoners red crosses to keep them from being in March 1945 as the Russians ap- loan original photographs of the White to the holiday at all. Instead, like many
(whether Jewish or confused with military vehicles. The proached. When the camp was liberat- Buses, the rescue mission and the sur-other Jewish choral groups, Let My
not) facing the pros- rescued prisoners would then be trans- ed by Soviet troops during April 29-30, vivors disembarking the buses once People Sing! (LMPS) is a group of
pect of liberation saw ported to neutral Sweden. they found only 3,500 ill and famished safely in Sweden, as well as other arti- people who love
each day dragging Ultimately, a total staff of about women left. facts that contribute to the story. to sing and whose

by, seemingly with- 300 mainly volunteer rescuers was It has been estimated that approxi- Through the stories of the survivors mission is to sing
out end. Yet painfully able to save 15,345 prisoners. Of these, mately 50,000 inmates died at Ravens- and the heroism of the rescuers, the To music of diverse
Dr. Paul Bartrop slowly, as German 7,795 were Scandinavian citizens and brück across the camp’s duration. In Life exhibition shares a message of Jewish traditions
units both west and east surrendered, 7,550 were from elsewhere. Those of addition to general overwork, expo- hope and belief in the human spirit. from ancient to
the concentration camps were liberated. non-Scandinavian citizenship includ- sure, malnutrition, disease and abuse, The story of the White Buses not contemporary
On April 12, 1945, Westerbork, in ed prisoners from Poland and France, individual women were subjected to only points the way for what was truly songs. But this
the Netherlands, was set free. The day among other places. excruciating medical experimenta- an absolute good, it also helps to redeem is a group with
before, Buchenwald’s inmates rose Ravensbrück was a Nazi concen- tion while in the camp, including bone the record of humanity at a time when a difference. All

against their SS guards and took over tration camp for women, located 56 transplants, induced gas gangrene and it was tested to its maximum. Those Arlene Stolnitz about inclusion,
the camp, handing it to United States miles north of Berlin on swampy land deliberately infected incisions. Early in involved in the White Buses initiative this unique group will get together
forces on April 13. Bergen-Belsen was near the Havel River. In late 1939, the 1945, a gas chamber was constructed formed another part of the “Greatest this summer at the Isabella Freedman
liberated by the British Army on April camp held 2,000 prisoners. By late at the camp, where, it is asserted, be- Generation,” one which has, all too in-Jewish Retreat Center in Canaan, Con-
15, and on April 23 the SS transferred 1942, there were 10,800. In 1944, the tween 2,200 and 2,400 women were frequently, been brought to light. It is of necticut, for a week of singing and
Mauthausen to the International Com- main camp contained 26,700 women gassed. course right that we focus on the deaths camaraderie.
mittee of the Red Cross. The next day, and several thousand girls in a sepa- In the spring of 2020, through to of the Holocaust. It is a phenomenon LMPS is a group that considers
Dachau, after 12 years and 28 days of rate compound for children. During the end of April, the Center for Ho- that has rightly been called, in Latin, the music as medicine. Music levels the
unending misery and abuse, was over- its existence, at least 107,753 women locaust and Genocide Research, in mysterium tremendum – the “mystery playing fi eld. It has the ability to free
run by the United States Army. Five (123,000 according to a former pris- conjunction with the Department of that repels.” Yet the story of the White and heal the soul. Everyone can be a
days later, on April 29, the women’s oner, Germaine Tillion) were interned Archives, Special Collections, and Buses can, by contrast, be termed the leader and learner of song. Building a
camp at Ravensbrück was liberated. at Ravensbrück and its satellite camps, Digital Initiatives at the Wilson G. mysterium fascinosum – the “mystery community of song should be intergen-
Thousands of survivors from camps most of which were industrial slave la- Bradshaw Library of Florida Gulf that attracts.” erational and inclusive. At the center
throughout Western Europe were then bor sites. Coast University (FGCU); the Saraso- It is a story that to some extent re-of this community are the voices of

rescued in a unique scheme undertaken During 1942 and 1943, Ravens- ta-based non-profit organization Better deems the value of humanity, and for those who have been marginalized in
Futures; and the Ravensbrück Archive this reason alone it is something which the Jewish community. That includes
STAY CONNECTED STAY CONNECTED at Lund University and the Malmö Mu- we are proud to bring to the FGCU fam-queer Jews, Sephardi and Mizrahi
seum (both in Sweden), is mounting a ily and the wider community. It is, in Jews, Jews of color, transgender Jews,

major exhibition entitled To Life. This short, significant. In the period of stress Jews with disabilities, indigenous Jews
brings to FGCU the story of the White
in which we are living, the example pro-and even Jewish women. Most orga-
facebook.com/jfedsrq of the women and children from Ra- all to follow in our hearts and through the center of their programming. While
Bus rescue mission and the liberation
vided by the rescuers is a model for us nizations do not include “the other” at
vensbrück concentration camp.
our conduct.
anyone is welcome to attend, the em-
To Life tells the story of the lib-
Dr. Paul Bartrop is Professor of His-phasis is defi nitely on the marginalized
eration through the lens of the women
tory and the Director of the Center for group. As a result, those who have not
and children after being rescued by
the White Buses, relating this story
Florida Gulf Coast University. He can had access to Judaism, have found a
twitter.com/jfedsrq
of hope, compassion and heroism. Holocaust and Genocide Research at always been welcomed and have not
be reached at pbartrop@fgcu.edu.
way to express themselves.
To help facilitate this, the Ravens- God receives us as we are, judging
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