Whoops, author forgot to mention the "other" victims of the Holocaust....
Student tells Holocaust survivor's tale
dailyrecord.com
04/05/04 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
By Rob Seman, Daily Record
PARSIPPANY -- Jerry von Halle has been asked whether he would consider writing a book about his experiences surviving the Holocaust almost as many times as he has told his story.
But the 81-year-old entrepreneur says he never got around to it. That meant the story would survive as oral history, told to schools and synagogues for only as long as von Halle did.
That was until about a year ago, when von Halle's story reached the ears of Geoff Donnelly, a 14-year-old at Central Middle School.
The story struck a chord with Donnelly. So much so, in fact, that Donnelly later decided to meet with von Halle, to interview the Holocaust survivor and document his story as part of the "Adopt-a-Survivor" program from United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey.
Donnelly said he recently looked at the notes and recorded conversations and realized it might just be enough for a book. What a great idea, they both thought.
"I want him (von Halle) to know the satisfaction that we've made his story in a permanent form that people will have," said Donnelly, now a student at Parsippany High School.
Donnelly isn't content with just writing the book, however. As part of the program, he has also agreed to tell von Halle's story in 2045 -- the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
It's a way that MetroWest plans to keep von Halle and other Holocaust survivors' stories alive -- stories Donnelly said need to be told.
"I'd like to teach kids about the Holocaust," Donnelly said. "In a little while, there aren't going to be any more Holocaust survivors."
After about seven months of interviews audiotaped, videotaped and written, Donnelly already has written a 44-page, 11,000-word manuscript with von Halle still submitting more information and pictures.
"Geoff is certainly capable and certainly understands the subject matter," von Halle said.
At the heart of Donnelly and von Halle's relationship is something both have in common -- brotherly love.
Donnelly was nominated for the Raoul Wallenberg Award by his social studies teacher, Karen Levine, after Donnelly videotaped a day in the life of his brother, Jimmy, who has been diagnosed with Down syndrome. The award is given to middle school and high school students who foster compassion and respect for others.
Donnelly's parents, Bill and Nancy, said Geoff was the member of the family who helped them learn to accept that their younger son was born with a disability.
"He's this special little guy and I think they compliment each other," Nancy Donnelly said. "And they're the two best teachers I could have had."
"He is a special kind of person and he respects people for what they are," she said.
A member of MetroWest's Holocaust Council discovered Donnelly at the Wallenberg Awards Ceremony and was asked to speak at its Rubell Symposium for middle and high school students. Donnelly learned of the "Adopt-a-Survivor" program and immediately thought of von Halle.
Donnelly said when he and von Halle finally sat down for their first interview on Sept. 25, 2003, von Halle began his story with the birth of his brother, Hans Jurgen.
"I heard Jerry's story and I really related to that," Donnelly said. "Because I have a brother and I thought, 'How would I feel if I lost Jimmy?'"
Von Halle was born in Hamburg, Germany, but he and his family moved to Amsterdam once Adolf Hitler rose to power. At the same time, the family of Anne Frank moved into the same neighborhood.
"There was always some sort of a commotion about who had the right to play there," von Halle said. He and the rest of the older boys usually won out, he said.
"If little Anne had survived the war and was alive today and asked what you think of Jerry von Halle, I would not want to be in that room," von Halle said.
When the war began in May 1940, von Halle and his brother were among the very first Jews arrested. He and his brother were taken to a Dutch concentration camp with 250 boys between the ages of 16 and 21, where his brother was killed.
"I was the only boy who was dismissed from that camp in Holland," von Halle said. "And that same night, the other 248 were sent to one of the most gruesome concentration camps and within two months all 248 were killed."
"And the only reason I was let go is because they had asked whether any of the 250 had a contagious disease and my brother said, 'why don't you say you are suffering from tuberculosis,' which of course was not true, but that saved me," von Halle said.
Von Halle went to college for a year, he and his family staying with his professor and then fleeing to an orchard, but the Gestapo eventually arrested and killed his father, while von Halle and his mother escaped.
When the war ended, von Halle came to America in 1945 with $5 in his pocket. He wanted to be a dentist, but eventually found himself in the investment business, where he rose from salesman to vice president of the former First Investor's Corp. on Wall Street.
After leaving that firm, von Halle founded his own investment firm, Von Halle Associates in Clifton, which he said now primarily brokers insurance to attorneys. His son, Peter Von Halle, runs the business, although von Halle still works every day.
Von Halle said he was surprised Donnelly's interest didn't spring from Jewish faith.
"I said that's funny, 'your name is Donnelly,'" Von Halle recalled of when the Bill Donnelly called him to set up the interview for his son. "'You must be Irish, which means your wife must be Jewish.' But he said 'No, my wife is Italian.'"
"I thought that was funny, because most of the kids who are involved in this 'Adopting a Holocaust Survivor' are Jewish," Von Halle said.
Both said they now realize that the event's significance was not exclusive to Jews and Donnelly said that bigotry still exists in the world.
"The second you forget it is the second you get a new Hitler," Donnelly said.
Donnelly and his father are in the process now of getting the permission from various sources to use pictures like that of Anne Frank.
There are few pictures of prominent Nazi leaders in the book thus far.
"My father and I didn't want to put any villains in the book because it's not their story," Donnelly said. "It's Jerry's story." |
