79-year-old Holocaust survivor finally has bar mitzvah
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It took Holocaust survivor Bernie Marks 66 years to realize his father's and grandfathers' dreams, but Saturday he honored them - and Jews worldwide - by becoming a bar mitzvah, which means "Son of the Commandment."
Marks spent World War II in a Jewish ghetto in Lodz, Poland and then in Auschwitz - where his mother and brother were killed - and Dachau. Marks and his father worked in several of Dachau's brutal slave labor camps until they were liberated by U.S. troops on Aprill 27, 1945.
Marks said he felt great after Saturday's symbolic Jewish passage into manhood. "I have thought about it and thought about it and sometimes it was not the right time and when it was the right time it was the wrong place," he said. "The high point for me was to be able to chant the Torah and Haftarah (a selection of writings from the Prophets) the way my father Josef and grandfather Jakub Mendel Makowski wanted me to.I was able to live long enough to accomplish my goal. I have a feeling of relief that God has watched over me."
As he chanted, Marks also thought of his father, "who was my guardian angel for 5 1/2 years of hell. He saved my life again and again - in Auschwitz by telling the guards I was five years older than I was and showing them my work permit from the Lodz ghetto; then bringing me a cup of hot water every night when I had Typhoid fever."
Rabbi Mona Alfi, who presided, noted "God did take a little bit longer, but this is your day. This is your story on redemption, your story of hope, your story of rebirth, of coming out of the fires more brave and more ready to embrace life. It is truly never too late to accomplish your dreams and grab on to life!"
After Marks completed his moving ceremony, Dr. Jeff Rabinovitz, president of the B'nai Israel Brotherhood, told him: "You obviously are a man - today you are a mench!"
Marks spent World War II in a Jewish ghetto in Lodz, Poland and then in Auschwitz - where his mother and brother were killed - and Dachau. Marks and his father worked in several of Dachau's brutal slave labor camps until they were liberated by U.S. troops on Aprill 27, 1945.
Marks said he felt great after Saturday's symbolic Jewish passage into manhood. "I have thought about it and thought about it and sometimes it was not the right time and when it was the right time it was the wrong place," he said. "The high point for me was to be able to chant the Torah and Haftarah (a selection of writings from the Prophets) the way my father Josef and grandfather Jakub Mendel Makowski wanted me to.I was able to live long enough to accomplish my goal. I have a feeling of relief that God has watched over me."
As he chanted, Marks also thought of his father, "who was my guardian angel for 5 1/2 years of hell. He saved my life again and again - in Auschwitz by telling the guards I was five years older than I was and showing them my work permit from the Lodz ghetto; then bringing me a cup of hot water every night when I had Typhoid fever."
Rabbi Mona Alfi, who presided, noted "God did take a little bit longer, but this is your day. This is your story on redemption, your story of hope, your story of rebirth, of coming out of the fires more brave and more ready to embrace life. It is truly never too late to accomplish your dreams and grab on to life!"
After Marks completed his moving ceremony, Dr. Jeff Rabinovitz, president of the B'nai Israel Brotherhood, told him: "You obviously are a man - today you are a mench!"
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