Spring 2011 Issue - Lehman College

Resonates with a New Generation
of students. “The response was incredibly moving,” she says. “Their
weeping moved me to tears.”
Professor Bitton-Jackson begins her talks by saying, “As survivors,
we are an endangered species. Very soon there will be none of us
left. And to those who would like to deny the Holocaust, I want you
to be able to say, ‘I heard it from someone who lived it’.”
She asks for their commitment to be her ambassadors. “Tell my
story to your children, to your friends, to your colleagues—so this
will never happen again.”
When World War II broke out, Jews in Europe had nowhere to run.
“We were trapped after Hitler rose to power. But a Jewish state
would have saved us,” Professor Bitton-Jackson says. “So I encourage
everyone to be a friend of Israel.”
Her most recent book is yet another amazing saga in an extraordinary
life. Entitled Saving What Remains: A Holocaust Survivor’s
Journey Home to Reclaim Her Ancestry, the book begins in 1978.
Professor Bitton-Jackson’s mother hears that a new dam on the
Danube River will flood the Jewish cemetery where the family’s
ancestors are buried.
“She wanted her parents’ remains to be exhumed and reburied in
Jerusalem,” she explains. “But how could I possibly do that? At the
time, Czechoslovakia was still a Stalinist regime.”
It took two years to get the necessary documents together. On top
of that, she was technically a fugitive from that nation.
After the war, Professor Bitton-Jackson had worked as a part-time
teacher in a public school in Bratislava, which was then part of
Czechoslovakia. Because she was employed in the system, she
had been required to join the Communist Party. In 1949, when she
fled through the forests of Austria, she was committing a criminal
act, punishable by twenty years in prison.
“People warned me that it was dangerous [to return there],” she
says, “but Len came with me—with his Irish, British, and Canadian
passports.”
When, at last, her grandparents’ grave was to be opened, a final
signature from a local burial authority was needed. But the woman
in charge firmly refused. All seemed lost. Suddenly Professor
Bitton-Jackson recognized her as the daughter of the town’s
midwife—and a former classmate. She spoke to her in Hungarian.
“Irena, do you recognize me?”
“No,” she said.
“Your mother brought me into this world. I sat behind you in school.”
When Professor Bitton-Jackson revealed her childhood name,
the woman began to cry. “She hugged me and signed the paper I
needed, and we were allowed to carry out the exhumation.”
The Jacksons live in Natanya, Israel, on the Mediterranean, where
they swim all year around. She talks daily to her children in New
York, and they visit often.
“Imagine, I now have great-grandchildren,” she says.
And they, too, will hear the music.
— Anne Perryman
But all that changed after her fateful trip to
Auschwitz. Upon her return to the U.S., and
living then in Philadelphia, she formed the
non-profi t Champions of Caring (champions
ofcaring.org). She began creating the blueprint
for a curriculum that teaches the lessons
her parents gave her. Champions of Caring offers community- and
school-based programs to educate and empower young people
to become leaders in service and advocates for social justice.
Now, sixteen years later, her curriculum has reached more than
10,000 young people in both South Africa and over fi fteen Philadelphia-area
middle and high schools. “Our curriculum teaches
children character and personal growth and gives them the tools
to realize they can enact social change,” she says.
The outgrowth of that experience led her to pen a part-memoir,
part how-to book, Live Your Legacy Now! Ten Simple Steps to
Find Your Passion and Change the World. “People talk about
leaving a legacy for their children,” she says. “But why wait? My
book is about enjoying your legacy with your children, sharing
your experiences with family and friends, and creating a culture
of caring and meaningful change in your own life. That’s how you
change the world—by changing people one at a time.”
These life lessons were reinforced, she says, when she was a
student at Hunter-in-the-Bronx. “I’m so grateful for the wonderful
education I received,” she says. “I’m very grateful for the opportunities
it has given me. This school has helped so many people
realize their dreams.” In March 2010, she returned to the campus
to speak about her experiences.
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