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Healing Old Wounds,  My Trip To Borken, Germany

November 6- 10, 2008

On a blustery fall day, cool and damp, with leaves falling and  the sun trying to peek through, my younger sister Rena, younger brother Larry, and I arrived in the town of Borken, Germany, in what is known as the Munster region (northwest part of  Germany, 12 miles from the Dutch border).  In spite of the weather, the tranquil setting and the calming effect of the wind rustling through the trees made for a beautiful late afternoon backdrop at The Hotel Linderhoff.  All of us were in good spirits, as we had just spent the last 4 days in Cologne with our German cousins.          

In this beautiful peaceful setting, the purpose of our visit started to creep in. Standing outside our hotel I couldn’t help but think of what happened here 70 years ago. What went through my mind was how terrifying it must have been for my grandfather Max Klaber, a decorated WW1 soldier and patriot to the fatherland, yet fervently religious, along with two of my uncles Albert & Willie, who were arrested by the Nazis on this terrible night for all Jews. My father Herbert, the youngest of six, was eighteen years of age, fortunately living in Holland at the time, while the  beautiful synagogues in Gemen, and Borken were burned to the ground during the night of November 9 & 10, 1938, Crystalnaight ( the breaking of glass). And my poor grandmother, Regina. Can you imagine the anguish she must have felt with three of her men taken away? The Horror had just begun.

This is why we came!!  The town of Borken had invited my elderly parents along with about twenty Jewish survivors, for a third visit to the Munster region. My father Herbert, & mother Marcia had visited once in 1988 for the 50th commemoration of Crystalnaight, and again in 1992 for the dedication of a memorial for the 100 plus Jews that perished from the town.  In both of those visits, over twenty people had come from around the world.  Unfortunately my father was too frail to make this trip, so he had requested we go in his stead (my older brother Mark was unable to attend). Dad had always remarked on how well they were treated on those trips by the people of Borken, and insisted we go. I felt badly for my father because I knew he really wanted to go.

We were his envoys, and wanted to represent and honor him in the best light.

Alarm bells sounded in my head as our group assembled on our first night at the city hall with the Burgermeister, Herr Lehrmann, the mayor of Borken, for a meet and greet, along with a small entourage, and a few members of a Catholic organization, known as the Arbeitskreis, (the working circle). This group was actually the driving force behind bringing back the Jews to Borken for a third time on their nickel.

As I looked around me at our small group of seven, I thought, is this all who came?   There was only one member of our group who was actually born in Borken; Gershon Kaddar, formally Carl Gans, who left for Palestine in 1936 and escaped the terror in Europe.  Incredibly dynamic and sprite for a man 89 years of age, accompanied by three of his relatives from Israel, and the three of us from the U.S., we cast our alliance.  It was disheartening to me to come to the sense of realization that the real witnesses to the holocaust are rapidly disappearing. With all those invited, only one man could attest to his former connection to the town of Borken, the rest too old or weak to make the trip.  I told myself, I must learn as much as I can.

Friday, the next morning, the three of us, Rena, Larry and myself were invited to the Montessori school in Borken to meet with some of the students. The director of the school, Herr Schuler Muller, had brought us into one of the classrooms of some very bright 14-15 year olds.  The thing they were most excited about was Obama’s victory, which took place three days prior.  Could you imagine our kids in the US even knowing who the prime minister of Germany is, yet alone caring?  It showed me that even today the US still carries a lot of weight throughout Germany.  These were beautiful kids who showered us with kindness and a certain curiosity, a homecoming to Borken, Germany. It felt a little odd, but good, like welcome back to your hometown! The healing process for me was in full force. The director of the school knew my father’s and the Klaber’s story, and gave the children a brief overview in german. Questions were asked and answered by all of us, and we had an enthusiastic discussion. It was the highlight of my trip!

Later, the director had brought us to the computer center and showed us a project that former and current students were working on. It was the stories of different Jewish families from Borken. Biography of The Klaber family of Borken, was written a few years back, and my father tells me he cannot believe the detail provided by the two students who wrote it.  There are three middle schools in the area that are currently involved in this project.

  One of my good friends, who happens to be very religious and lives in NY asked me after I had returned from my trip, Did I get resolution?  I thought that was a very interesting question.  I didn’t really respond to him, but thought about the question and in the context in how it was asked.  I think, it is not for me to get resolution, and whom shall I get it from?  But, it is enough for my father to reach into his soul to forgive at least the next generation, that is enough, for all the pain he endured I know he will never get resolution, for how can he?  but I know he finds peace and hope knowing the next generation of Germans from Borken, and a few from the older guard have embraced the former Jews of Borken and future Jewish generations.

People might question their motivation. Is it out of guilt?

Maybe! I’d like to believe in my jaded soul, as Anne Frank said,” because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”  

 After losing both parents, a sister, and a brother who was experimented on in

Aushwitz, during the war, Herbert survived by hiding on a farm in Holland.  In 1971, my father Herbert took my mother Marcia, my eldest brother Mark and myself (14 years old), to Groenlo, Holland to visit my Aunt Erna who lived close to the German border. I don’t think he had intended to go to Germany on this trip, but while visiting my aunt he got up enough nerve to go back and visit his hometown of Borken. It was like walking on eggs, and not very comfortable or welcoming at the time! My father kept a low profile, and we felt out of place. I remember as a kid thinking, this really didn’t happen that long ago. It was a history lesson in real time!

Thirty seven years later, the next generation of Germans of Borken are asking their silent parents, What happened during those years?  On their deathbeds, we might get some answers. As a German friend of mine said, there is still a Mafia Of Silence from the older generation.  Many questions will never be answered. Many crimes will go unpunished.  But in the end there is hope. Case in point.

Here is a joint letter written to each one of us in our small group, from the students of the three middle schools in Borken, presented to us at a dinner where over 300 people attended. It was an Israeli/German society club that sponsored the event.  German kids singing and playing Israeli music, and German people showing their love of Israel. Along with some of the teachers and kids in attendance from the schools.  The letter went straight to my heart.

To the Jewish Guests of Borken on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Pogrom Night on November 9th in 2008
In the last years teachers and students of schools in Borken often had the chance to meet former Jewish citizens of our town and to learn-among other things- about those inhumane and detestable events of the 9th and 10th November 1938 from their own personal experience.

These visits were, apart from their informational value, characterized by a warm and emotionally touching atmosphere.

We think that through these contacts both sides- you and we- have regained something that we all believed lost or suppressed in our sub consciousness:

You may have found again your old home town and the emotional link to your childhood and your own past.

We have come in contact with, and won the friendship of, wonderful people who to a great extent shaped our town and our history and with whom our life could have been so much richer.

These contacts have now made it richer again.

Considering what happened to you and your families, we regard it as admirable and a great present to us that you were and are prepared to forgive this country and this town.  We have often wondered if we would be able to act like you.

Your visits to Borken, your humanity, warmth and magnanimity have made a lasting impression on our students and us teachers.

Your visits also had a great impact on our history lessons:

Your presence here, your interest in and commitment to this town, its young people and our country’s future does more against racial resentment and neo-nazism than any source of information. They are the basis for a respectful but more normal contact with each other.

For this we express our sincere thanks.

With the many positive impressive experiences in mind we would be very happy if you, the descendents of the former Jews of Borken, were interested in keeping up these contacts.

We hope that you and your families will in the future too, be able to find again this part of your history and to feel a little at home again here. We and our students would very much like to contribute to that.

We also invite you to take part in our life whenever you like and we are convinced that such an exchange will bring us closer together and enrich our lives.