Local Holocaust survivor reflects on Hamas attack, rise in antisemitism
Local Holocaust survivor reflects on Hamas attack, rise in antisemitism
Behrend fled Germany in 1939 when he was only 12-years-old. He describes the horrors he witnessed during Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) in his memoir and documentary "Rebuilt from Broken Glass: A German Jewish Life Remade in America."
PHILADELPHIA - Tuesday marked 30 days since the surprise Hamas attack on Israel.
Many around the world and here at home in the Greater Philadelphia Area are grieving the 30 day milestone, which is a symbolic period of mourning in the Jewish faith.
"I am alive among six million that were murdered," said Fred Behrend, 97, Holocaust survivor. "They just took 200 innocent people enjoying a concert, rounding them up with a purpose, original purpose of killing them."
Behrend fled Germany in 1939 when he was only 12-years-old. He describes the horrors he witnessed during Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) in his memoir and documentary "Rebuilt from Broken Glass: A German Jewish Life Remade in America."
He saw synagogue after synagogue and his own school set on fire.
"How would you feel if you saw your school in flames? We came just in time to see the parents of these children grabbed by the storm troopers, dragged down the stairs, thrown into trucks and taken away," said Behrend. "The children never saw their parents again."
Behrend said unfortunately time and time again hate and antisemitism has persevered.
"So it’s nothing new, but you would think that after so many centuries and so many years the world would learn something about it, that nothing is really accomplished erasing from the earth certain groups of people," said Behrend. "I would like to see a person explain the reason for any of this, what do they gain from this?"
There are still more than 200 innocent civilians of all ages who were taken hostage during the October 7 attack.
"It’s disappointing 30 days later we don’t have any information," said Amichai Shdaimah.
Shdaimah's stepmother Ditza Heiman, 84, is the core of their family. They learned she was kidnapped after seeing her in a Hamas propaganda video online.
"We don’t know what happened to her since. We don’t know where she is, we don’t know if she’s getting what she needs," said Shdaimah. "The community in the Philadelphia area has provided a lot of love and support so they help us get through this."