A Jewish widow now residing in South Florida, whose gentile employer took great risks to rescue her during the Holocaust and later married her, will accept a posthumous “Righteous Among the Nations Award” on his behalf from the Israeli government and Yad Vashem during the 76th Annual Commemoration of Kristallnacht on Sunday, November 9, beginning at 6 p.m., at the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach.
The Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach, a Committee of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, is located at 1933-1945 Meridian Avenue. The Kristallnacht ceremony also will feature inspirational addresses, poetry readings, musical performances and remembrances.
The Kristallnacht commemoration is free of charge and open to the public. Free parking will be available in the municipal parking lot directly to the south of the Holocaust Memorial. In case of rain, the program will be held at Temple Emanu-El, 1701 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach.
“Righteous Among the Nations” awards are presented to the Holocaust-era rescuers or their next of kin through Israel’s diplomatic representatives. Israel’s Yad Vashem Law authorizes Yad Vashem “to confer honorary citizenship of the State of Israel upon the Righteous Among the Nations, and commemorative citizenship if they have passed away, in recognition of their actions.”
Each person recognized as a “Righteous Among the Nations” is awarded a specially minted medal bearing his or her name, a certificate of honor, and the privilege of having his/her name added to the Wall of Honor in the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem, the famed Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem.
Aurelia Klein (later Schwartz), currently a West Palm Beach resident, will receive a posthumous award for her late husband and rescuer, Rudolf Szanesi. Aurelia was born in Sighet, Hungary in 1923 and relocated to her uncle’s house in Budapest in 1943. While seeking employment in Budapest, she was referred to the sewing workshop of Rudolf Szanesi, who immediately hired her.
In 1944, her uncle was taken away from his house by the Nazis, leaving behind his wife and two small children. Aurelia was afraid that if she continued to live in his apartment, she and her uncle’s family also might be at risk. So Szanesi moved her to an apartment he owned and made sure she was fed daily. A number of weeks later, Szanesi obtained forged papers for Aurelia and relocated her by train to his mother’s house in a small village on the outskirts of the city of Hatvan.
Even at his mother’s house, Szanesi continued to provide protection for Aurelia. When the battlefront got closer to the village, there was a concern that the Germans would take over residents’ houses to board soldiers. To prevent that, Szanesi posted a sign on the door of the house, announcing there was someone in the house with Scarlet fever. This way, Aurelia remained protected and safe for several weeks until the entire area was freed from Nazi forces.
Aurelia returned to Budapest several weeks later, but this time it was her turn to help her rescuer. Szanesi was afraid to leave his house because he thought he might be arrested by the Russians and sent to a labor camp. He stayed home and Aurelia provided him groceries and other needs until it was determined that he was safe.
The couple’s relationship became a love story, and Aurelia and Rudolf married in 1948. They left Hungary during the 1956 Hungarian rebellion against the Soviets and settled in Vienna, where Rudolf passed away in 1973. Aurelia immigrated to the United States several years later, settling in New York before relocating to West Palm Beach.
Today, she is 91 years old, and will share her story with participants at the November 9 Kristallnacht commemoration program in Miami Beach. The Honorable Chaim Shacham, Consul General of Israel to Florida and Puerto Rico, will present Aurelia with Yad Vashem’s “Righteous Among the Nations Award.”
Widely considered to be the event that foreshadowed Hitler’s campaign to annihilate the Jewish people, Kristallnacht was marked by a series of coordinated attacks in Germany and parts of Austria on November 9-10, 1938, which caused the deaths of 91 Jews and the incarceration of 30,000 in concentration camps. The streets were covered with broken glass from the shattered windows of Jewish-owned buildings, stores and synagogues that were vandalized and looted during the attacks.
The Kristallnacht commemoration also will feature Andrew C. Hall, Esq., Chair of the Holocaust Memorial; Wendy Reis Rothfield, Event Chair; Barbara Black Goldfarb, a Past Chair of the Board of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation; and Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff, renowned Holocaust studies educator. The program will include memorial songs by cantors from various congregations throughout South Florida and participation by teenagers attending the 2015 March of the Living.
The Kristallnacht program is sponsored by the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach, a Committee of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. It is supported by the City of Miami Beach Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council, and the Florida Department of Education.
For more information, visit www.HolocaustMemorialMiamiBeach.org or call 305-538-1663.
