Saba Max

Saba Max
by David Wilder
8.1.20
Hebron

If anyone thought otherwise, Hebron is a very special place. One of the elements that creates such a distinct atmosphere, is, of course the people. There’s such a wide-ranging population that wherever you are in the city, you can always find someone interesting to speak with.

Somewhere in the vicinity of 15 years ago, a new couple moved into Beit Hadassah.  Max Volker and his wife Erika had lived in Ashkelon for years, and now moved to Hebron to be near their family, their daughter Ruti and her husband, Rabbi Danny Hizmi.

Over the years Erika became ill. Max cared for her day and night, until she passed away.

This afternoon, at 95 years of age, Max joined his wife and the rest of his family wiped out during the holocaust.

Max’s story, in his own words, (translated from Hebrew by Dr Google) is fascinating. Before leaving you to read it, I’d like to share with you a conversation we had, years ago.

First, by way of introduction, Max survived because of the kindertransport. That is, he was one of the children, given up by his family, and put on a train to life, bringing him to England. In this way many children were saved. But few of them ever saw any of their family again.

We were in my car, talking, when Max told me that he continued to be very troubled. When I asked him why, he said that he didn’t understand how it was, that he, of all his family, was still alive. In other words, he had a guilty conscience because he had lived, and they had died. After all these years, decades, he still pondered the imponderable. Why me, and not them.

Such  humility.

The answer though, at least to me, is quite clear. Max refused to give up. He lived for 95 years. He has children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. His family is made up of wonderful people, each of whom has made a contribution to the Jewish people in Israel. Max is/was the quintessential victory over Nazism, antisemitism, evil at its most evil.

Max, despite his age, attended Shabbat prayers in the small Beit Hadassah synagogue. And he participated, was totally ‘with it.’ I sat a few seats from him, and we had a weekly ritual, whereby we would shake hands and offer each other a Shabbat shalom. His handshake was always strong and firm, and I never ceased to be amazed that a 95 year old could have such strength.

A week ago, the handshake was weaker. This Shabbat he was hospitalized. This morning I left Hebron to visit him in Jerusalem. He didn’t look great and his mouth was covered with an oxygen mask. But when I spoke to him he tried to talk back. His mouth moved but he couldn’t speak. I gave him my hand and told him that I would be waiting for him on Shabbat, for his hearty handshake. And he pressed my hand, again and again and again.

I had a feeling that I might not see him again. I told him that we would pray for him and that he should  pray for us.

A few hours later he was gone. But I’m sure that he’s doing exactly what I asked him to do: praying for us from the heavens above.

But I’ll miss that handshake, next Shabbat.

Saba Max – Grandpa Max, as he was known to us here in Hebron, was a unique and special person, on the many that has left their mark on Hebron, and on the Jewish people. It was a real privilege to know him.

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The following is translated from a document posted by ledorot – and organization that interviewed survivors. It’s Max’s story.
http://www.ledorot.gov.il/new_pdf/61226.pdf

Last Name:

Volker

First name:

Max

Personal details before and during the Holocaust

 

Family name before or during the war:

Volkowitz

Maiden name: Wolkowicz

First name before or during the war:

Max

Date of birth:

12/10/1924

Place of birth (locality, county):

Carve

In the foreground

Country of birth: euskirehen

Germany

Father’s First Name:

Samson

First name and maiden name of mother:

Feige Cherniak

Permanent place of residence before the war:

Essen

In the foreground

Country of residence: essen

Germany

Education / Academic Degree Before the War:

Elementary School

Residence during the war (settlement, district, country):

Szbonshyn camp, benshen neu, Germany-Poland border

 

Have you been to camps? Which and when?

Camp Sponchen. From October 1938 to 1939/02/12

Release Date: England

 

Year of immigration:

1962
I was born in Auschwitz, Germany. My mother had a grocery and fruit store. Dad worked to repair the railroad. He fell ill and died when I was a boy Less than a year. My sister, Frida, was two and a half years old. Mother got married and we left Auschirchen. We moved to Essen. That’s where my brother was born Joseph in 1931. My mother continued to sell food in Essen. She had a fruit stand in the market. My stepfather had a men’s clothing store. every Once they took turns running the stores, I also worked in the shops and helped them. In addition, I worked independently and saved money

 

Please tell us about your experiences during the war

The Germans expelled us from the house on 1938/10/29. The deportation was at 2 am. They screamed us out of the house. They said

That we go to the police station and take nothing because “come home tomorrow morning.” Of course that was a lie. But that’s why

I forgot to take the money I saved. I remember to this day exactly where at home I kept my savings, but it doesn’t help me.

We arrived at the police station and from there we walked to the train station. We took the train all the way to the German-Polish border. Through all the way more and more Jews boarded the train. When we arrived at benshen Neu the train was full. We got off the train and started walking.

We walked a very great distance to the border with Poland. We reached the border checkpoint and the Poles refused to enter. There was an argument until the Germans started shooting and then the Poles let us cross the border. We were taken to the Szbonshyn camp. (It was a camp, without food, no work, no services. We sleep in stables with stinky old straw.

The people who were there were educated people and they worked and made efforts to renovate the place to create minimum living conditions.

Later a truck came from the Jewish community in Poland. There was a new, clean straw for us in the truck and also potatoes. I was in the kitchen in the camp and I worked on peeling these potatoes. I was in camp for almost six months. When camp was set up our parents asked and asked to find out where the children can be sent to save them. Mom wrote us all, all the kids, all the lists she found.

On 1939/02/12 he arrived at the camp. Dr. Zeitlin  (with children’s lists for the rescue train (the Kinders Transport).

He came up with a list of 54 certificates. I was No. 54, the last on the list. I was 13 and a half. (I always thought I was born in 1925, only in recent years did I receive my birth certificate from Germany, and it was written in which I was born in 1924.)

They would take my younger brother Joseph, and I also asked my sister Frida to go instead. I said I was a guy and I could get along, better than the girl

They disagreed and insisted. I was told “Either you drive away, or your family will lose her place.” I had no choice.

I said goodbye to my family, and this is the last time I saw them. On 1939/02/12 I saw my mother for the last time.

She stood at the station with one of my brothers and I drove off.

Dr. Zeitlin took us 3-4 days to Warsaw to rest and breathe a little. From Warsaw we moved to Gdynia, Danzig, in northern Germany, where we boarded the ship “Kalana”. We got in the ship Herring for dinner. All the children were sick that night from the herring and the sea. After a very hard night,

We arrived in London the next day. In London we were taken to a large hall. There were other children in the courtroom, also from other groups, and there were all kinds of families there and couples who came to take the children home. They took my group to the Cricklewood Synagogue in London

Everybody grabbed a bed and I had no place – there was one bed missing. The late David Green was there, a sweet man. He said

“I’ll take Max to my sister”

I arrived at his sister’s house in Wilesdon Green in London. Their son was three years younger than me. I was there for three weeks, and thent hey called me to a family meeting and allowed me to choose whether to stay with them or return to the group of children I came to England with.

I chose to stay with the family. They gave me a warm, Jewish and religious home. They welcomed me with open arms and had a very good life with them. I was with them at home in London until the war broke out. When the war broke out, I traveled with my whole family to Gorin, on the seafront in the south England. A few months later, all the Jews told them to leave Gorin because the Germans wanted to conquer England.

The family split. The family I was with went to the US, and I joined their brother’s family, Mr. Tiber.

I moved with the Tiber family to the city of Brackly (in the center of the country). They had three children and a house with a large garden with trees and vegetables

And even fish in the pond. I was with them for a few years, until the end of the war

Please tell us about your experiences from the end of the war to your immigration to Israel

After the war was over, we returned to London. The brother’s family also returned from the United States. I started to become independent and no longer lived with them. I went out to work already during the war, and learned the profession – tailoring and management. I met my wife, Erica and waited 5 years to marry. When we got married we got a job at the Tiber Reading factory, I was a deputy manager there. We had a very nice house with a garden.

Debbie and Yossi were born. Then the twins Ruth and Susie were born to us. Erica’s sister was in Israel. We always talked about her. We talked and talked and nothing came of it, until one day Erica just decided we were going to the country. One day I got a call from her

“I booked a flight for next Tuesday.” We traveled to Israel, stayed here for two weeks and returned to England, and then decided to immigrate to Israel.

Please tell about your life in the country

We immigrated in 1962. We started in Ashkelon. We were there for two weeks and then we moved and rented an apartment in Herzliya. We have lived in Herzliya for 14 years. I was Director of the Gold Factory for Textile. When they closed the factory we moved to Ashkelon again. My wife studied fashion design and we both worked at “Begir”.

We lived in Ashkelon until about four years ago. We now live in Hebron.