GreenC bot (talk | contribs) m Rescued 1 archive link; reformat 1 link. Wayback Medic 2.1 |
→External links: sp |
||
(4 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''Zahava Burack''' (née Radza, 1932 – Sept 28, 2001)<ref name=":0" /> was a [[Holocaust]] survivor who later became a [[philanthropist]], community leader and political activist in the [[United States]]. She was born in 1932 in the [[shtetl]] of [[Nowy Korczyn]], [[Poland]], to Louis and Gitia Radza. She had three sisters, Rita, Miriam and Sarah.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://archive.is/20130930050031/http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19861108&id=ze8lAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h_wFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6759,2153229|title=The Telegraph - Google News Archive Search|date=2013-09-30|work=archive.is|access-date=2017-05-09}} </ref> |
|||
{{multiple issues| |
|||
{{notability|Biographies|date=July 2013}} |
|||
{{Orphan|date=February 2009}} |
|||
}} |
|||
== Surviving the Holocaust == |
|||
'''Zahava Burack''' (born 1932 in the [[shtetl]] of [[Nowy Korczyn]], [[Poland]]) was a [[Holocaust]] survivor who became a [[philanthropist]], community leader and political activist in her adopted land. She resided for the last 40 years of her life in [[Westchester County, New York]], before dying on September 28, 2001 from cancer.<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/06/nyregion/in-memoriam-lives-well-lived.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |title=In Memoriam: Lives Well Lived |work=The New York Times |date=2002-01-06 |accessdate=2013-09-30}}</ref> |
|||
In 1942, at the age of 9, Burack, her parents, and her sisters Miriam and Sarah were forced into hiding after Nazi soldiers instructed the Jewish residents of Nowy Korczyn to march to the railway station for "relocation".<ref name=":1" /> Her parents, aware that this was a euphemism for deportation to [[Internment|concentration camps]], slipped out of the line unseen to escape.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/11/06/Three-Jewish-sisters-who-hid-under-the-floorboards-of/3531531637200/|title=Three Jewish sisters who hid under the floorboards of...|work=UPI|access-date=2017-05-09|language=en}}</ref> In the confusion, the 15-year-old Rita became separated from the family and boarded the train; she was eventually taken to the [[Bergen-Belsen concentration camp]].<ref name=":1" /> |
|||
The Radza family sought refuge with a Polish Catholic family, Stephania and Jozef Macugowski.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jta.org/1986/12/03/archive/behind-the-headlines-of-bravery-humanity-and-survival|title=Behind the Headlines of Bravery, Humanity and Survival|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=2017-05-09}}</ref> Jozef was an old friend of Louis Radza's, and had previously offered assistance if the family ever required it.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> To hide the Radza family, the Macugowskis dug a secret trench beneath the floorboards of their home. The crawlspace was no more than 5 feet wide, 7 feet long, and 20 inches deep.<ref name=":2" /> The family would spend the next two and a half years hidden within, their presence a secret not only from the outside world, but from the Macugowskis' children and elderly parents as well.<ref name=":2" /> |
|||
Burack was the daughter of Louis and Gitia Radza. She had two sisters, Miriam and Sarah.<ref>[https://archive.is/20130930050031/http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19861108&id=ze8lAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h_wFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6759,2153229] </ref> |
|||
Over that span of time, several other Jewish people sought refuge with the Macugowskis. Eventually, nine refugees, including a cousin of the Radzas, were packed inside. Much later, Burack's sister Miriam described their packed state to reporters: "When one turned on his side, the others would have to do the same. We were like sardines."<ref name=":1" /> The Macugowskis would come down at night to bring bread, water, and a bucket for waste.<ref name=":0" /> The Radzas, despairing their situation, sometimes begged them for poisoned food or a gun to end their misery, but the Macugowskis refused. Burack later recalled that they insisted, "As long as we are alive, we will save you.<nowiki>''</nowiki><ref name=":2" /> |
|||
In 1945, the German High Command took over the Macugowskis house as a headquarters and forced the Macugowskis out. According to Burack's recollection, the Radzas took out their prayer book, said [[Kaddish]], the Jewish prayer for the dead, and "all thanked God that we were going to die."<ref name=":1" /> However, the Macugowskis were able to convince the German soldiers that they should be allowed to stay on as the home's caretakers.<ref name=":3" /> Once or twice a week, after waiting until all the German soldiers were asleep, Jozef and Stephania were able to bring a small amount of supplies for the family.<ref name=":3" /> |
|||
At one point, the Germans were overheard discussing efforts to track down one remaining Jewish family rumored to still be hidden in town. Jozef was able to spread a rumor in a nearby town that this family had drowned in the [[Vistula|Wista River]] while fleeing the Nazis, and the search was called off.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> |
|||
== Liberation and move to Israel == |
|||
In 1945, the town was liberated by the [[Red Army]]. The radza family at last emerged from the crawlspace beneath the Macugowskis' home. It was the first time they had seen daylight in two and a half years, and it burned their eyes at first.<ref name=":0" /> Their legs were so wobbly that Russian soldiers believed they were drunk and beat them, thinking they were hiding [[vodka]].<ref name=":1" /> |
|||
Jozef took the family to a town some miles away where no one knew them, and made them promise that they would never reveal who had protected them.<ref name=":3" /> Nearly six months after the war, the family was reunited with Rita, who had survived the camp at Bergen-Belsen.<ref name=":1" /> They eventually lost track of the Macugowskis. |
|||
Burack was given false papers and smuggled into the part of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] that would soon become the state of [[Israel]].<ref name=":0" /> She was the only member of her family to emigrate to Israel, and would remain there for twelve years. While there, she served for two years in [[Haganah]], the Jewish paramilitary organization that in 1948 became the [[Israel Defense Forces]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/04/nyregion/westchester-journal-035156.html|title=Westchester Journal|last=Whitehouse|first=Franklin|date=1982-04-04|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-05-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> |
|||
== Political activism in the United States == |
|||
After twelve years in Israel, Burack moved to the United States in the 1960s to work for the [[List of diplomatic missions of Israel|Israeli Consulate]] in [[New York City]]. She eventually settled in [[Westchester County, New York]], where she would marry her husband, Robert H. Burack.<ref name=":3" /> The Buracks resided in Westchester for the remainder of their lives; Robert passed away in 1988.<ref name=":0" /> Her sisters had also settled in and around the New York area with their families.<ref name=":1" /> Through her adult life, Burack maintained her search for the Polish couple that had saved her and her family. |
|||
Burack was politically active for her entire adult life, and used her wealth philanthropically to further Jewish, Israeli, and Democratic causes.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1996-04-06|title=SURVIVOR RECALLS PASSOVER BY NAZIS.(News/National/International)|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-67768608.html}}</ref> She is known to have worked with the [[United Jewish Appeal]]<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=bRznAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Zahava+Burack%22&dq=%22Zahava+Burack%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiW2bTqvOLTAhWIv1QKHbN6DckQ6AEIRDAH|title=B'nai B'rith National Jewish Monthly|date=1973-01-01|publisher=B'nai B'rith.|language=en}}</ref>, the [[Westchester-Putnam Council|Westchester-Putnam Boy Scouts of America Council]]<ref name=":5" />, the Mental Health Association of Westchester County<ref>Untitled memo dated April 18, 1990, [http://digitalcollections.library.cmu.edu/awweb/awarchive?type=file&item=695769 Mental Health Association of Westchester County]. Access date 2017-05-09.</ref>, and the [[David Yellin College of Education]], among numerous others.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> |
|||
She met [[Jimmy Carter]] in 1975, before he was officially nominated as the [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1976|Democratic Party candidate for the 1976 election]], and later organized his election campaign in Westchester.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/01/archives/westchester-weekly-westchester-journal.html|title=WESTCHESTER JOURNAL|last=Feron|first=James|date=1979-04-01|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-05-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Burack was a marcher at Carter's inauguration parade after he won the [[United States presidential election, 1976|1976 presidential election]].<ref name=":0" /> |
|||
In 1981, Burack ran as a Democrat for a seat in Westchester County government, but was defeated by the incumbent, John L. Messina, by 2,500 votes.<ref name=":4" /> |
|||
In 1984, Senator [[Joseph R. Pisani]] introduced a resolution to the [[New York State Senate]] to honor Burack for her long record of service to the Westchester community.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=UBpKAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Zahava+Burack%22&dq=%22Zahava+Burack%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiW2bTqvOLTAhWIv1QKHbN6DckQ6AEIQDAG|title=Journal of the Senate|date=1984-01-01|publisher=The Senate|language=en}}</ref> |
|||
In 1986, Burack finally made contact with Stephania and Jozef Macugowski.<ref name=":3" /> In collaboration with the David Yellin College, Burack arranged for the Macugowskis to be flown to New York for a special recognition ceremony. The Polish couple was recognized as [[Righteous Among the Nations]], an honorific given by the State of Israel to denote non-Jews who risked their lives to protect and shelter Jewish persons during the Holocaust.<ref name=":3" /> |
|||
Zahava's husband Robert died in 1988.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1855416/in-re-i-burack-inc/|title=In Re I. Burack, Inc., 132 B.R. 814 – CourtListener.com|website=CourtListener|language=en|access-date=2017-05-09}}</ref> Zahava died from cancer on September 28, 2001.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|author= |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/06/nyregion/in-memoriam-lives-well-lived.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |title=In Memoriam: Lives Well Lived |work=The New York Times |date=2002-01-06 |accessdate=2013-09-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=z5vtBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA690&lpg=PA690&dq=%22Zahava+Burack%22&source=bl&ots=FB9sJXfW3L&sig=gYuE0oQacAQwMogd4tyhX9B46C4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiY1vbQteLTAhVKwWMKHXObCTw4ChDoAQgkMAE#v=onepage&q=%22Zahava%20Burack%22&f=false|title=Encyclopedia of Cancer and Society|last=Colditz|first=Graham A.|date=2007-09-12|publisher=SAGE Publications|year=|isbn=9781452265612|location=|pages=690|language=en}}</ref> |
|||
==References== |
==References== |
||
Line 18: | Line 44: | ||
[[Category:1932 births]] |
[[Category:1932 births]] |
||
[[Category:2001 deaths]] |
[[Category:2001 deaths]] |
||
[[Category:Holocaust survivors]] |
|||
[[Category:American philanthropists]] |
|||
[[Category:American political activists]] |
|||
{{poland-rabbi-stub}} |
|||
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in New York]] |
|||
{{US-activist-stub}} |
|||
[[Category:New York Democrats]] |
|||
{{philanthropist-stub}} |
|||
[[Category:People from Westchester County, New York]] |
Revision as of 23:41, 9 May 2017
Zahava Burack (née Radza, 1932 – Sept 28, 2001)[1] was a Holocaust survivor who later became a philanthropist, community leader and political activist in the United States. She was born in 1932 in the shtetl of Nowy Korczyn, Poland, to Louis and Gitia Radza. She had three sisters, Rita, Miriam and Sarah.[2]
Surviving the Holocaust
In 1942, at the age of 9, Burack, her parents, and her sisters Miriam and Sarah were forced into hiding after Nazi soldiers instructed the Jewish residents of Nowy Korczyn to march to the railway station for "relocation".[2] Her parents, aware that this was a euphemism for deportation to concentration camps, slipped out of the line unseen to escape.[3] In the confusion, the 15-year-old Rita became separated from the family and boarded the train; she was eventually taken to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.[2]
The Radza family sought refuge with a Polish Catholic family, Stephania and Jozef Macugowski.[4] Jozef was an old friend of Louis Radza's, and had previously offered assistance if the family ever required it.[2][4] To hide the Radza family, the Macugowskis dug a secret trench beneath the floorboards of their home. The crawlspace was no more than 5 feet wide, 7 feet long, and 20 inches deep.[3] The family would spend the next two and a half years hidden within, their presence a secret not only from the outside world, but from the Macugowskis' children and elderly parents as well.[3]
Over that span of time, several other Jewish people sought refuge with the Macugowskis. Eventually, nine refugees, including a cousin of the Radzas, were packed inside. Much later, Burack's sister Miriam described their packed state to reporters: "When one turned on his side, the others would have to do the same. We were like sardines."[2] The Macugowskis would come down at night to bring bread, water, and a bucket for waste.[1] The Radzas, despairing their situation, sometimes begged them for poisoned food or a gun to end their misery, but the Macugowskis refused. Burack later recalled that they insisted, "As long as we are alive, we will save you.''[3]
In 1945, the German High Command took over the Macugowskis house as a headquarters and forced the Macugowskis out. According to Burack's recollection, the Radzas took out their prayer book, said Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, and "all thanked God that we were going to die."[2] However, the Macugowskis were able to convince the German soldiers that they should be allowed to stay on as the home's caretakers.[4] Once or twice a week, after waiting until all the German soldiers were asleep, Jozef and Stephania were able to bring a small amount of supplies for the family.[4]
At one point, the Germans were overheard discussing efforts to track down one remaining Jewish family rumored to still be hidden in town. Jozef was able to spread a rumor in a nearby town that this family had drowned in the Wista River while fleeing the Nazis, and the search was called off.[3][4]
Liberation and move to Israel
In 1945, the town was liberated by the Red Army. The radza family at last emerged from the crawlspace beneath the Macugowskis' home. It was the first time they had seen daylight in two and a half years, and it burned their eyes at first.[1] Their legs were so wobbly that Russian soldiers believed they were drunk and beat them, thinking they were hiding vodka.[2]
Jozef took the family to a town some miles away where no one knew them, and made them promise that they would never reveal who had protected them.[4] Nearly six months after the war, the family was reunited with Rita, who had survived the camp at Bergen-Belsen.[2] They eventually lost track of the Macugowskis.
Burack was given false papers and smuggled into the part of Palestine that would soon become the state of Israel.[1] She was the only member of her family to emigrate to Israel, and would remain there for twelve years. While there, she served for two years in Haganah, the Jewish paramilitary organization that in 1948 became the Israel Defense Forces.[4][5]
Political activism in the United States
After twelve years in Israel, Burack moved to the United States in the 1960s to work for the Israeli Consulate in New York City. She eventually settled in Westchester County, New York, where she would marry her husband, Robert H. Burack.[4] The Buracks resided in Westchester for the remainder of their lives; Robert passed away in 1988.[1] Her sisters had also settled in and around the New York area with their families.[2] Through her adult life, Burack maintained her search for the Polish couple that had saved her and her family.
Burack was politically active for her entire adult life, and used her wealth philanthropically to further Jewish, Israeli, and Democratic causes.[6] She is known to have worked with the United Jewish Appeal[7], the Westchester-Putnam Boy Scouts of America Council[7], the Mental Health Association of Westchester County[8], and the David Yellin College of Education, among numerous others.[1][4]
She met Jimmy Carter in 1975, before he was officially nominated as the Democratic Party candidate for the 1976 election, and later organized his election campaign in Westchester.[9] Burack was a marcher at Carter's inauguration parade after he won the 1976 presidential election.[1]
In 1981, Burack ran as a Democrat for a seat in Westchester County government, but was defeated by the incumbent, John L. Messina, by 2,500 votes.[5]
In 1984, Senator Joseph R. Pisani introduced a resolution to the New York State Senate to honor Burack for her long record of service to the Westchester community.[10]
In 1986, Burack finally made contact with Stephania and Jozef Macugowski.[4] In collaboration with the David Yellin College, Burack arranged for the Macugowskis to be flown to New York for a special recognition ceremony. The Polish couple was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, an honorific given by the State of Israel to denote non-Jews who risked their lives to protect and shelter Jewish persons during the Holocaust.[4]
Zahava's husband Robert died in 1988.[11] Zahava died from cancer on September 28, 2001.[1][12]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "In Memoriam: Lives Well Lived". The New York Times. 2002-01-06. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "The Telegraph - Google News Archive Search". archive.is. 2013-09-30. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
- ^ a b c d e "Three Jewish sisters who hid under the floorboards of..." UPI. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Behind the Headlines of Bravery, Humanity and Survival". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
- ^ a b Whitehouse, Franklin (1982-04-04). "Westchester Journal". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
- ^ "SURVIVOR RECALLS PASSOVER BY NAZIS.(News/National/International)". 1996-04-06.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ a b B'nai B'rith National Jewish Monthly. B'nai B'rith. 1973-01-01.
- ^ Untitled memo dated April 18, 1990, Mental Health Association of Westchester County. Access date 2017-05-09.
- ^ Feron, James (1979-04-01). "WESTCHESTER JOURNAL". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
- ^ Journal of the Senate. The Senate. 1984-01-01.
- ^ "In Re I. Burack, Inc., 132 B.R. 814 – CourtListener.com". CourtListener. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
- ^ Colditz, Graham A. (2007-09-12). Encyclopedia of Cancer and Society. SAGE Publications. p. 690. ISBN 9781452265612.