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Mon, 13 May 2024 07:44:41 -0500

JCHC Adventures!


Sunday, February 5, 2023
San Antonio — Lunch And JCC Holocaust Memorial


DiMassi's Restaurant
Left Front clockwise to right front:
Dawn Elmore, Peg Hainey, Ellen Bitkower, Greg Bitkower, Robert Pill, Matt Kordelski
Photo by Don Burda


Greg, Ellen and Robert begin the tour.


(books) On May 10, 1933 in more than 90 locations throughout Germany bonfires were built
by the Nazis in their first attempt to eradicate the Jews by destroying prayer books (above)
and literary works by Jewish authors.


It seems as if no one except, perhaps, the girl in the front row knows what is about to happen.


A rare collection of patches worn by concentration camp inmates.


Description and significance of the patches above.


The museum's Czech Memorial Scroll number 534 from the same source as our Scroll number 1552.


Robert and Peg viewing the exhibit "In America 1933-45: response to the Holocaust."


Greg and Ellen viewing an exhibit in the museum's library.


From the address given by President Lyndon Johnson at the signing of his immigration bill
paving the way for Holocaust victims to come to America.


Memorial sculpture listing all the concentration camps.



"One of the best characteristics of Jewish Community of the Hill Country is our sense of community. The experience we had Sunday ran the gamut of emotions from the fun and fellowship of a delicious meal to the somber reality of coming to terms with antisemitism and the Final Solution. We were there for each other throughout the entire day. True community gives its members a sense of belonging and the ability to be themselves, and that's what we find in our time together."
Dr. Dawn Elmore and Matt Kordelski

"This was a great day! It was so good to have the time to spend outside of the Shul to be together."
Robert Pill

"We experienced great joy being together at lunch but then great sadness as we viewed our World War II history. To laugh and grieve together was special to me. We can do both! To paraphrase Ellen who told Don AJ, Ellen's father, dropped her off at one of the camps in Germany at a young age, "take a good look and be sure it does not happen again!" That validates all the holocaust museums in the world as a reminder they must be shared specifically with the young with hope the message becomes ingrained and be an ongoing reminder for the rest. I was impressed to read about Lyndon Johnson's outreach to save 30 Jews when he was a young man. I did not know this. That explains his attitude and sensitivity during the civil rights movement."
Peg Hainey

"Ellen and I enjoyed yesterday’s excursion. The food was great, the company superb and the Holocaust Museum was, as always, a bone-chilling experience, but an important reminder. We look forward to our next outing!"
Greg and Ellen Bitkower

"When I lived in Germany, I had the opportunity to visit several of the concentration camps. Even though they were "sanitized" for the tourists, they were soul-wrenching to me. Upon returning to the United States, I began to visit Holocaust museums. I thought that after my experiences in the camps, these would not affect me as strongly. I was wrong—very wrong! And this museum was no different. To experience both the sweet and the painful moments of the day with my extended family, the JCHC, is something I won't forget and for which I'm very grateful."
Don Burda

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