Holocaust survivor Gary Eichenwald remembers the farmer who saved his life
I recently attended the annual Shoah Memorial program held at the Polo Club in Boca Raton co-chaired by Nate Miller and Sharon Barash. Nate said, “The survivors are tasked with ensuring that the memory of the greatest of human tragedies never fades. They remind us that good and decent people must not close their eyes to evil and ignore the suffering of others”. I met Holocaust survivor Gary Eichenwald at the event who shared his story with me following the program. Gary speaks publicly to honor the memory of his cousin, Rolf, who perished at Auschwitz.
“I was born June 2nd, 1930 in Düsseldorf, Germany and named Gert (later Gary). My father’s name was Walter Eichenwald and my mother was Thea (Heumann). My family and I lived in Benrath (a suburb of Düsseldorf). We lived in an apartment located above the textile store that my grandmother owned. Since Hitler came to power in 1933 the neighborhood was increasingly hostile against the Jews. My mother wouldn’t allow me to play in the street, so I had to be content to play with my cousin in the backyard of our building. In 1936 I started first grade in the elementary school located next door to our home. The following year Jewish children weren’t permitted to attend public school anymore so I attended classes in the synagogue. In 1937 my father found it increasingly harder to find work and went to Eindhoven, Holland where he worked as a peddler selling goods to farmers. During Kristallnacht in November 1938, German soldiers came into my grandmother’s store, pulled down all of the shelves and smashed all of the merchandise. Our home just above the store was unscathed. My grandmother was forced to sell her business to a Nazi, who placed her in a home for the elderly located in Cologne. In 1939 my mother had me write a letter to Princess Juliana of the Netherlands requesting permission to move to Holland. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Juliana, who later became queen. granted our request and we joined my father in Eindhoven”.
Gary recalled life in Holland
“On May 10th, 1940, the German army invaded the Netherlands. It was the start of five days of fighting that resulted in the occupation of the Netherlands. Persecution against the Jewish people began immediately and just like I had encountered in Germany, I could no longer attend public school. By the summer of 1942 my parents and I were forced to share a small living space with another Jewish family. These living conditions were a motive of the Germans to keep close tabs on the Jews. A few short weeks later we received notice to report to the railroad station that would deport Jews to Camp Westerbork, a Nazi transit camp in the province of Drenthe in the Northeastern Netherlands. Camp Westerbork was used as a staging location for sending Jews to concentration camps. I remember my mother preparing cheese sandwiches for the trip. As we were getting ready to leave my father lied down on the bed and said ‘I can’t do this’. Hendrik and Lucia Bloem, farmers who knew my father, agreed to take me and my mother in as their ‘cousins’. The Bloems, who had nine children, lived in Soerendonk located adjacent to the forest. My father and Uncle Paul went into hiding in the nearby village of Nuenen. In April 1943 my father came by bicycle to visit us. This was a dangerous undertaking and it would be the last time I would see my father. On June 23rd, 1943, he and my Uncle Paul were betrayed and arrested. They were transported to the Sobibor extermination camp and gassed upon their arrival. The constable in the village announced that the Germans were searching for Jews, so Hendrik hid my mother and I in a shack in the forest. After we left the farmhouse to hide in the forest the German Security Service came to the farm searching for Jews. They began to question Hendrik and were going to arrest him. Thinking quickly, his son said, ‘There were Jews passing through, but that they had left for Belgium’. The Germans were convinced and released Hendrik. We spent 15 months surviving in the forest as the Bloems brought us food twice a day that they carried in a bucket used to milk the cows. There were rats running around the area where we slept so my mother slept with a stick next to her. The farmer and his family really put their lives on the line to save my mother and I. In September 1944, we were liberated by the American army, however, the war raged on until May 1945. Following an aerial raid, a bomb came through the roof and destroyed the farmhouse. My mother and I would sleep in a hay loft for a few months”.
Gary reflected on life after the war
“In May 1945 my mother and I reconnected with my Aunt Maddi, a survivor from Theresienstadt, which primarily served as a transit camp for Jews who were usually sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau or other extermination camps. Maddi’s husband, Henry and their son, Rolf, were deported to Auschwitz and murdered. Maddi remained at Theresienstadt and survived. Theresienstadt was a show camp where Jews were forced to write cards that read: ‘Having a wonderful time’. This is how the Germans attempted to hide the atrocities. I remember my aunt locking herself in a room and screaming from her experiences of the loss of her family”.
Gary recalled moving to America
“On May 13, 1947 my mother and I arrived in the US. We were sponsored by my Uncle Ernst who arranged a furnished house for us in Yonkers and found employment for both my mother and I. When we arrived, my cousin said Gert is a girl’s name, so I changed my name to Gary. My mother went to work in a hospital in the linen department while I got a job as a mechanic repairing electric motors. After serving in the US Army, I started my own electrical repair company and married my first wife, Marcia. I have a son and daughter and several grandchildren. Marcia died when she was 56 years old while vacationing. I later married my second wife, Harriet”.
Gary shared his words of wisdom
“Be grateful. I’m thankful for my good health and the good life I have had in America”.