Dads and sons bond over books

According to a story written by Karen Berkowitz, and published in the Skokie Review, "The fathers and sons who gathered in the Dawes Elementary School library ... had obviously done their homework..."

They came to discuss the book Jacob's Rescue. It's about a 9-year-old Jewish boy who was saved by and lived with a Polish family during the Holocaust.

Dawes School father, Richard Emrich served as facilitator at this session and had some good questions to start with.  "How do you think (Jacob's Aunt) Hannah felt when passing him through the rafters," asked Emrich, referring to the scene from the book when she was turning him over to the rescuers. The children all agreed she must have felt scared because the Polish family may not have been trustworthy.

Holocaust survivor Regina Samelson of Skokie attended to share her own experiences during the war. Samelson thought that Jacob's dilemma was worse than her being in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp because he must have lived in fear of being discovered every day. She went on, "Each time somebody opened the door he had to hide under the bed."

Samelson spoke of her own experiences. "They sent us to Bergen-Belsen, which was hell. There was no food, no water. Everybody had typhoid fever without any medication. I can still feel the thirst of it."

When asked what lessons Regina hoped the boys would take with them, she replied "The worst sickness is hatred. You can't be indifferent to others' suffering."

Courtesy of the Skokie Review, February 1, 2007