Alicia Carl & Manya Rosenkropf article (PDF)

Carl and Manya Rosenkopf, married
Immediately after years of hiding in the
woods from the Nazi enemy, are flying
to Israel to join in celebrating the triumph
of Jewish existence.
Always the instigator and coordinator,
Carl beams when talking about the
event. His eyes glisten and his voice
commands recognition of the importance
of this reunion of European Jews.
In 1945 the war ended and "since then
a lot (of Jews) scattered around the
world,, says the seven-year resident of
Hallandale. "Some don't even know who
is alive.
"THIS GATHERING is very important
for survivors to meet each other
and ... after registration give a little
idea through witnesses who survived.
After 36 years, finally we get together
and pray together at Yad Vashem, the
place where the story (of the six million
Jews who died in World War II) is
stored. It is very important ·to find out
about loved ones who perished in the
Second World War." ·
Carl and Manya live surrounded by
pictures of their three grandchildren
and the many awards Carl has earned
through his work with many Jewish organizations
in Florida and their American
hometown, Albany, N.Y.
He is representing the Jewish Federation
of Hollywood and The Southeastem
Florida Holocaust Memorial Center
at the World Gathering of Jewish Holocaust

Survivors." I'm going to represent
the community of South Florida
and to bring greetings from the people
who couldn't go."
HE’S A member of the board of directors
of the memorial center which is
collecting "living" data through video
tapes of Holocaust survivors and liberators. There's no ignoring the pride
he takes in his efforts with the documents
which will be used in schools to promote
Holocaust education.
He also is a founder of the David Ben Gurion Culture Club, a group of 500
Hololocaust survivors in South Broward.
These people who have much in common
meet monthly, celebrate Jewish
occasions and donate money to Israel.
This year the club members are sending an ambulance to Israel. .
His beginnings in Jewish and zionist
education began in Warsaw when he
prepared Jewish youngsters for their
moves to Palestine. "Since 1933 the
Jews in Poland felt something was going
to happen sooner or later because in
every city uprising against the Jews
started.
"IN 1936 and 1937 Polish anti-semitism started to be very strong.
I taught The youth to be alert and to help each
other. When children went to school
they couldn't sit on the same side (of the
room as other students) because they
were Jews.'' .
Carl taught others to fight back, to
fight for their lives. And when he was
provoked, that's what he did. In 1941 the

Nazis rounded up Jews from the Warsaw
ghetto, where his family was forced
to relocate after first living in another
Nazi-formed ghetto, to transport to Maidanek
labor and death camp.
He never made it to the camp. After a
night's rest for the train and its Nazi
workers en route to Maidenek the train
began rolling 'When it started to move we (he and some other brave
prisoners)
jumped and escaped into the woods.
"AT THE time, my best friend. Michael
Goldberg, got killed . The guards
shot him."
From the time of his escape until the
Allied forces liberated war-torn Europe,
Carl hid in the woods of Poland
with a band of other Jews. He survived
trips into the cities because "I was
blonde and spoke Polish perfect. So
whenever I was out of the woods, Poles
never believed I was a Jew."
In 1945 he went home to Sochaczew, a
small town near Warsaw. "I found out
my brother, his wife and four children
got killed two days before the end of the
war. He was hiding in the woods. too,
and they (Nazis) took him out of the
woods and shot him right there. He even
married a Christian girl."
"THERE WERE 15,000 Jewish families
in the city. If one (person) from 20
families are left in the whole world.
that's a lot. If you find one guy from my
city it is like finding an angel.'' He did

find one angel and to this day he and
Mendel Gombinski are "practically brothers."
Now he believes Jews must promulgate
the Jews' history as the eternal
scapegoat. Even though the Jews constituted
only a small percentage of European
population, Rosenkopf says non-Jews
were always jealous of the Jews'
education. He mentions events through
history when Jews "died because they
were Jews, not for any other reason.
"If we're not going to teach and tell
the story to our children. We’re never
going to prevent another Holocaust. The
United States especially is built from all
different nations and nationalities. We
can't let this repeat to other generations,
to another nationality.
"THAT'S WHY children are so dear
-for future generations to tell the stones
about our grandparents. Education
helps in present life and in the future."