A Celebration of Life

A few Jews arrived in Maramures already during the 17th century. Most, however, arrived to the area during the 18th and 19th centuries from Galicia region.

Maramureș became a center of religious Hasidic Jews. Since the region was respected by many Rabbis and synagogues, including New York, they would send their prayer books to be printed in the famous printing house in Sighet.

Many famous singers started their musical practice in Sighet, among them the Adler family and the famous Kahan family, who owned real estate in Sighet and were involved in many charitable acts.

Almost 13,000 Jews were deported from Sighet and only 2,000 returned. Most of the community being murdered, killed, or starved in the camps.

At the end of World War II, on September 2, 1945, when all camps were liberated by the Allied troops, there were 250,000 Holocaust survivors. Some were hospitalized to recover in countries like Sweden, others were returning to their hometowns to look for family members, and many were seeking visas to immigrate to the US, Israel, South America, or Australia.

The survivors had only one thought in their mind: the continuity of the family. Many survivors married friends they met at the Displaced People Camps known as DP Camps or people they knew from their towns and villages. A wedding dress from the camp in Bergen-Belsen was worn at 25 weddings, and in some of the camps even group weddings were officiated.

The survivors wanted to start new families, have children, and fulfill themselves professionally. During the years 1946-1948, the birth rate in the Displaced People Camps, was the highest in the world. Medical care for the newborns and their young mothers, provided in conjunction with aid organizations, was one of the survivors' main challenges.

This exhibition is a tribute to the courage and heroism of the survivors, who continued their lives after the horrors of the Holocaust. Survivors are an example of courage, dedication, and hope. Survivors in Israel are proud and excited that their grandchildren and great-grand-children are serving in the IDF. The descendants of the survivors make an outstanding contribution to their own residential communities and the world; as university professors, scientists, artists, authors, Rabbis, politicians and Hi-Tech professionals.

TO LIFE- LE’CHAYIM
AM ISRAEL CHAI