KENT — Eddi Weinstein, who now lives on Long Island, was a teenage boy living in Poland in 1942 when he and his family were taken by the Nazis and sent to Treblinka.
Treblinka was one of the first Nazi death camps and it is known as a site where acts of fanatical hatred and inhuman cruelty were perpetrated.
Weinstein and his family were among the first to be brought there by the Nazis, who marched them into cattle trains that transported them to the camp.
And Weinstein is among the very few who survived Treblinka.
According to the Rhode Island Holocaust Museum, almost all of the 800,000 victims transported to the camp were killed within hours of their arrival. It is believed that, in all, fewer than 100 people survived Treblinka.
Weinstein told a rapt audience his story of persecution, survival and, ultimately, redemption this past Saturday, at St. Andrews Parish as part of the “People Who Have Made A Difference� series offered by the Kent Memorial Library.
At Treblinka, Weinstein was witness to and victim of the atrocities carried out by his Nazi captors. He told of being shot in the chest while waiting in line for water, of the loss of friends and family and of his daring escape.
Gedalia Rosenzweig, Weinstein’s friend and the son of a builder who was also being held in the camp, tagged Weinstein with a red cloth badge that was worn by a special work detail who sorted out the clothes of the dead. Those who were selected for this labor were protected from death for at least a short time.
It was while on this work detail that Weinstein, along with another prisoner named Michael Fishman and with Rosenzweig, hid among the clothes that were being taken from the camp on an outgoing train.
Fishman, who had the presence of mind to stash gold coins in a belt, was able to fund their life outside the camp.
After his escape, Weinstein was reunited with his father, Asher Weinstein, who spent time in a labor camp. But he lost contact with Rosenzweig and Fishman, who had set out to find another hiding spot and never returned. Their fate is unknown to this day; they did not turn up even after the liberation of Poland.
Weinstein, his father and two others, Berl Goldberg and Hersh Wiur, went on to hide in a fish hatchery for 17 months. They left after being discovered by two farmers, who demanded payment for their silence.
The men hid in a forest for two and a half months. They were discovered by retreating Nazi soldiers, and Berl was killed. Goldstein, his father and Wiur escaped and the next day were liberated by Russian soldiers.
In 1944, Weinstein joined the Polish army and fought on the front lines for four months.
After all he had endured, he was still only 20 years old. He had lost his brother, his mother, five cousins and an aunt and uncle to the Nazis.
“After five years of bloody persecution, I was happy to still be able to take part in Germany’s defeat.�
Weinsten emigrated to the United States in July 1949. Eventually he opened his own garment business.
Weinstein’s tale is inspiring on its own. But the man himself was an inspiration as well to the audience at the church. For an hour and 15 minutes, he embodied the indomitable human spirit — characterized by his remarkably positive demeanor despite having been victim to one of the worst tragedies in human history.
While he unflinchingly recounted his shock and disgust at the horrors being committed by his fellow man, he never failed to comment on the noble qualities that such an experience brought out in people.
When asked by Kent Memorial Library President Ken Cooper how it was that his experience didn’t leave him bitter and full of hatred, he answered simply, “I remember that there were some good, genuine people.�
He also spoke enthusiastically and proudly of his children and grandchildren, sharing their accomplishments with an obvious delight, concluding his talk with, “The grandchildren I have now are my answer to the Final Solution.�
