Jaimie Etkin: The Devil Wore Manolos
Opinion: Holocaust Survivor and Family Do the Dance of Life at Auschwitz
Filed under: In The News, Weird But True
Some are calling this insensitive but at ParentDish, we call it a pure celebration of life.
Holocaust survivor Adolek Kohn never dreamed he would head back to the concentration camp 63 years later, but he did just that, bringing his grandchildren with him.
It was his daughter's idea to make a music video out of the experience.
"We came from the ashes, now we dance," Jane Korman told the Associated Press. She explains that she did it to "awaken people" in the hopes that it "would make them think again about this past."
Seems to us that this is more about the future. And for that, we applaud you.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
7-18-2010 @ 9:37AM
D. Margolis said...A tear came to my eye seeing him dancing with his grand children. Being a fell Jew I applaud this. Always a good thing to remember the tragic past and learn from it so it never can happens again. Thank you Adolek for taking the trip out. I wish my Grandparents were alive to take such a trip with them.
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7-19-2010 @ 6:27PM
Walter said...In my opinion, no matter how well intentioned, it appeared as if he was dancing on graves. You want to dance for joy, and future generations, fine, but is nothing sacred anymore? Is a place where hundreds of thousands of people were murdered one man's stage? And to wear a kitschy shirt that says "Survivor", and dance to a disco song is in even worse taste, in my opinion. The song, first of all, is about making it through adversity by will of your own actions... but no matter what he'd like to believe, surviving a place like Auschwitz, where so many did not survive, was due to pure luck, not any actions of his own. To pair "I Will Survive" with his experiences at Auschwitz seems to imply that those who did not survive did so because they weren't as tough as he was, when that couldn't be further from the truth. He'd be better served playing some kind of song about random chance, or luck of the draw, but even then it's not a great idea to dance on the graves of hundreds of thousands of people. To me it comes off looking completely narcissistic, and shows little regard for those who did not survive.
And to add another thought, I get the same feeling when cancer survivors say "I beat cancer", or "I won my battle with cancer", which implies that those who "lost" their battle with cancer had some sort of say in the matter; as if they weren't as strong as those who "beat" cancer. I think people would be better served acknowledging how fragile life really is, and how little control they have over the matter. No matter what argument you try to make to the contrary, when someone claims they "won", it implies there is some kind of choice; as if those who "lost" did so because they didn't have the same will to survive. As for Auschwitz, had his number been called, he wouldn't have survived just like the hundreds of thousands of his fellow prisoners, and it's as simple as that. Those who were killed were no less of fighters, or survivors. Their numbers were called, and that's the difference.
7-18-2010 @ 5:41PM
Alicia said...At first, before I saw the old man and found out he was a Holocaust survivor, I thought it was insensitive, but with that bit of news, it really does become a celebration of survival.
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7-18-2010 @ 9:06PM
Connie Gutierrez said...What a wonderful thing that this man at 89 years old could move as he does. Lets all not forget the tragic circumstances that happened. There are still people out there that don't believe anything happened. For this man to show that not only he could move but that he IS a survivor is remarkable in itself! I congragulate you dear sir for bring to light to all that see this that it did happen and we must NEVER forget!
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7-18-2010 @ 10:38PM
lulu said...As a Jew who has relatives that died, and survived, I see no offense in what was done. I think that all the Jews that were born to holocaust survivors and all the grandchildren should make a trip there and dance together. This proudly shows those Nazi's, who used that very land to try to annihilate us. LOOK WE ARE STILL HERE! AND DANCING ON THE VERY GROUND YOU TRIED TO KILL US ON!!!!!!!!
I applaud this!
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7-19-2010 @ 1:36AM
cally6 said...I think that after a person has lived through, experienced, and SURVIVED such a horrific event, who are we to judge? We can only try to immagine what it was like. But this man is showing his grand children that he is no longer the victim of pure evil but a SURVIVER! And what better way to show victory than to dance! And he is not just dancing for himself but for all those who went on before him, they may have not been free in this life but they are certainly free for eternity! I can't say that for those evil ones that had a hand in any of it. The God of Isreal is just! They will pay for eternity.
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7-19-2010 @ 6:52AM
Sylvie7 said...Good for them! They have a lot to dance about. The anti Semites of Europe did not succeed in ending all Jewish life in the world. Mr. Kohn is triumphant. Not only did he survive but he has created two generations to follow him. Why shouldn't they dance or do anything else there that celebrates survival and triumph over murderers.
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7-19-2010 @ 7:05AM
Sandy said...This little quip from a man and his grandchildren dancing in front of Auschutz broght tears to my eyes never mind the sinking feeling I got in the pit of my stomach. My brother in law was in Auschutz and saw his whole family go to the gas chamber in Auschutz but he never spoke about his escape to me or anyone else in the family. I can't imagine what those survivors went through just to survive. God bless them all. And to the grandfather who danced to We Shall Survive I give him and his familiy all the credit and respect her deserves. I think everyone in the world should be aware that it really happened.
Thank you so much for this.
Sandy
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7-19-2010 @ 8:50AM
susan said...As one person said: "who are we to judge" He is a holocaust survivor and in my belief, when it comes to the camps and Nazis, a different set of rules applies to him. I think that the video was a great way to celebrate that this man returned sixty three years later, in good health and with his grandchildren.
Mr. Foxman is right though. Only a survivor could do this. Again, different rules apply.
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7-19-2010 @ 8:57AM
Bella007 said...Truth be told, he is dancing because he was able to survive horror and have a family, live a full life and grow old. He looks like he was dancing for joy. Dancing because he could, and not even cruel people could deter him from living a full life even though they tried. His family is dancing because they are here to begin with. Again cruel people tried to make them not even happen!!
That old man should be happy he survived the horrors, told others about it and even had the balls to come back and pay his respects to those who would never again get the chance to dance.
Everyone forgets that it wasn't only the Jews nazi's were after, there were people who helped the jews, people with disabilities, those that did not want to join the nazi regime. Those that were "accused" even though not even true about plotting against the Nazi regime.
I want to visit the camps one day, I'm not jewish, but I do know that although the jews were the major casualties, humanity as a whole was a casuality. So many people were killed there. It would probably be a very hard thing to even go there.
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7-19-2010 @ 9:14AM
mary46 said...What Joy!!
What triumph.
How wonderful!
You dance, Adolek.
Dance, dance, dance. May I have the next dance with you?
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7-20-2010 @ 5:08PM
bump2rid said...This brings back all the images of the people in the death camps and the trains going to that horrible place. Pray to God that is never happens again. I am happy that this person was able to celebrate his survival.
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8-29-2010 @ 10:21AM
Nathaniel said...Dear Adolek Kohn and Susan Avery,
Imagine a book that details and explains everything every single pharaoh did while ruling Egypt. Would you be against that book or that idea?
I have to many words for a jew, I have so many that I have to explain them im so furious. This is in reference to Anne Frank and the Jewish community and countless other communities. Civilocity is a form of government where the people watch the ruler entirely amongst their reign. I wonder if Anne Frank would have included civilocity in her second book if she had known what it is? Well if she didn't she would allow what happened to her to happen to someone else. What civilocity is to you is a word what it is to her is a breath.
If Anne Frank didn’t write about civilocity she would be allowing what happened to her to happen to someone else in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Cambodia after it happened to her. It is almost like Anne wrote about the wrong thing and both of you are writing about the wrong thing.
Nathaniel I. Wenger
Nate@dimends.com
http://www.civilocity.com
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