Mother’s Tears, Dark Train Recalled As Community Remembers Holocaust

WILDWOOD ─ “I will never forget the tears in my mother’s eyes. She was crying despairingly. I never saw my sister or mother again. Then the train pulled out of the station. The train was like the trains we see in movies, a big dark cave.”
Those words, penned by Ruth Fisch Kessler, tell only a fragment of the story of a 5-year-old Jewish girl who embarked on an incredible journey in 1939. Today, Kessler continues to tell her experience during the KinderTransport, a rescue movement to save Jewish children from deportation camps. 
Great Britain allowed 10,000 children to enter and seek refuge. As Wildwood residents and members of Beth Judah Synagogue gathered to hear Kessler May 5, word of courage, loss, and hope found an echo in the responsive reading: “We will remember them.”
Evening of Remembrance
As an evening mist fell, Beth Judah hosted “an evening of remembrance” to “remember the lives of 6 million Jews who died during the Holocaust and to honor the survivors, liberators, and rescuers who keep those memories alive.”
Pauline Levy, a member of the Beth Judah Program Committee, welcomed everyone. “We host this event every year,” Levy said. She also commented on “creating a culture of memory” and how all who came took part in “making a better world.”
Levy then asked Phyllis O’Brien to read “A Prayer for Yom Ha’Shoah,” composed by Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. The prayer spoke of the “greatest crime against man” and of those who were “burned” and “turned to ash.” The prayer also said, “We give thanks for the righteous of the nations” who gave refuge to Jewish families.
After a responsive reading, “We Will Remember Them,” Levy introduced Jane Stark, executive director of the Sam Azeez Museum of Woodbine Heritage of Stockton University and a member of the executive committee that founded the Holocaust Resource Center.
A Unique Woman
“We are here to listen to a unique woman,” said Stark.
Stark described Kessler as “A wonderful, sweet human being” and how her story will “live with you forever.”
With a smile, Kessler took the podium and began her story. Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1933, Kessler described her world as “a small one, bound by a few streets.”
“My memories are of a loving, happy family,” she said. Her sister, Erika, was four years older and “studious.” Kessler said she “liked to dance around” and was a happy child. Called “Sunshine,” Kessler’s world would quickly change.
Kessler’s father, Pinchas Davit (David) Fisch, operated a haberdashery and her mother, Shayndle Hesse (Charlotte) kept their home. They represent the estimated 200,000 Jews who lived in Vienna, participating and contributing in all aspects of life and culture.
Kessler recalled looking out her bedroom window and seeing the peaks of the Austrian Alps and of the ice-skating rink below.
Anti-Semitic Sentiment Rises
However, after the Anschluss (union of Germany and Austria in the Third Reich) in March 1938, anti-Jewish legislation passed in Germany applied to Austria’s Jewish community.
In Kessler’s book, “The Blue Vase,” she wrote, “Austrian Jews were excluded from the cultural, social, and economic life of their communities.”
On Nov. 8 and 9, 1938, “The Night of the Broken Glass” (Kristallnacht) showcased growing hatred as windows of homes, businesses, and synagogues were broken, especially in Berlin, the capital of Germany, and Vienna. Thousands were arrested and deported to Dachau, Bechenwald, and Sachsenhausen. In 1939, Kessler was told by her family that she was going away.
“Are You Coming Soon?”
“I did not understand the reason I was being sent away,” said Kessler. Thus, on May 12, Kessler was put on a train along with many others. “Are you coming soon?” Kessler recalls asking. “We’ll see you soon,” her family replied. Yet Kessler never again saw her mother Charlotte or sister Erika.
“I don’t remember anyone looking after me,” Kessler said, recalling the long ride. “I did not make any friends.” Kessler also said, “I don’t remember where we disembarked the train or the ship that took us across the English Channel.”
Traveling from Harwick, England, the children took a train to Liverpool Station in London. The HIAS (Hebrew Immigration Aid Society) delivered her to Michael Joseph and Stella Webber. “I could not speak English, and they could not speak German,” Kessler said. However, Kessler learned English in two weeks. Webber owned a pub in Piccadilly Circus and brought gum and candy home from American GIs.
Battle of Britain
As life settled into normalcy again, the Battle of Britain began in 1940. Although Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, the bombings “began in earnest” a year later.
“One day I would play with a friend, and the next day her home would be bombed and she would be killed,” said Kessler. Once again, Kessler was sent away for safety in 1943, at the age of 10.
In England’s Lake District, far to the north near the Scottish border, many Jewish children were sent to live in hostels. In her book, Kessler explains the reason: “Although the Webbers did not tell me that I was classified as an enemy alien and could not remain in a protected area, there seems no other reason that I would have been separated from them.” In Windermere, Kessler lived with other girls from Austria, Germany, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.
Post-War, Reunited
In 1945, after D-Day, Kessler was called back by the Webbers who eventually moved back to London from Cornwall. Then word came from her father, David, who had immigrated to America in 1940.
He finally obtained a visa for her after years of opposition. “I did not want to go,” said Kessler. “My father was a stranger.” She had not seen him since the train platform in Vienna.
Kessler and her father reunited in May 1946 on a dock in New York City. “I have never been more miserable,” said Kessler, recalling the voyage. Because David could not afford to take care of her, Kessler spent the next several years in foster care until she settled with an aunt and uncle in Philadelphia in 1950.
Upon graduating high school, Kessler worked at the Marine Corps Depot of Supplies and met her husband, Louis Kessler, on a blind date. They married June 1, 1952, and have enjoyed 64 years of marriage. Kessler describes her husband as “her rock” and “her life,” a “stabilizing” influence after years of uncertainty.
Fates Learned
It was not until 2007 that Kessler discovered the fate of her mother and sister. On a trip to Israel, Kessler learned that her mother and sister had been deported to Opole, Poland.
Poor living conditions within the ghetto led to the death of hundreds.  However, in 1942, many were placed in cattle cars and sent to the Belzec Death Camp and later to Sobibor.
Kessler also learned that her grandparents had perished in Auschwitz-Birkenau. “At least they died together,” said Kessler, who finally had closure.
When asked why she was chosen to go on the KinderTransport, Kessler replied, “I believe she chose me because she thought it would be easier later to replace an older child.”
Also, her sister Erika refused to leave their mother’s side. Kessler said she tells her story so people will not forget and be thankful for their blessings. “I don’t want my Holocaust experience to happen to anyone again. I don’t want the goodness in all of us to be overcome by the evil of a few.”
Six Candles, 6 Million
As the program concluded, six candles were lit to remember the 6 million Jews who perished.
Yom Ha’Shoah means “Day of Catastrophe” and is a day when people of all backgrounds and ethnicities unite to remember and ensure such atrocities will never again happen.
“We have the power to shape the world we want to live in,” said Gail Cohen, a member of the Beth Judah Program Committee, as she reflected on the few “monsters” who rose to power as so many did nothing.
Rev. Joseph Wallace said as he gave the benediction, “we destroy the humanity in ourselves” when we do not “see the beauty” in differences.
To contact Rachel Rogish, email rrogish@cmcherald.com.