Would my Grandfather deny being a Rus.Jew after WWII? even while safe in US? serious ppl only plz.?

Question

I am fascinated by culture,people. Any professors?experts? well my dad had me grow up listening to history and though caucasion, he spoke about the Jewish people, the greatness of African warriors and the Mongols etc..Im glad. I am 1st generation. My family history was very secretive and a friend- an elderly Jewish lady, said I have what children of survivors experience like a PTSD just by living with survivors.(no picnic). I have always been "drawn" to the Jewish people, there were times Dad said he was Jewish then he'd ignore it. Not celebrate holiday etc...(?)- as a kid I read Anne Frank over and over and cried a lot, past life? (if that is even possible) I'm not too crazy, but grew up in fear, The H. made my grandpa very sick though he was a hero almost killed yet saved his family somehow. based on granpa's escapes and the nightmare called Frankfurt (camp), though by blood Russian/Belarus. Family was in hiding years. Our real name? dunno. Would the holocaust make a man scared even into 1980's when he passed? Why do I "feel "Jewish and know some Yiddish words he used to say though not raised as such and he pretended to get by. All records seem destroyed, so the mystery remains. Anyone experience similar?

Answer 1

Although not quite the same experience, my father was a Paratrooper during WWII, and he spent about a year and a half as a POW in the German camps.  He didn't talk about it to anyone, until I was born, then the floodgates opened and he told me about everything.  When he passed away I was amazed at the number of people who came up to us at the funeral and told us they had never even known he had seen active duty because he didn't talk about it.  Personally, I think that living through that kind of experience is something that anyone would want to put back in the deepest parts of your memory, and even though I heard all of the stories, and have done some research myself, I can't even begin to imagine being there.

Answer 2

I have read Corrie TenBoom's books. They are about her experiences and her family in the concentration camps during this time.  A lot of the Jews came away from those camps and hid their arms or whatever part of the body that they tattooed their number they were assigned.  It was because of prejudice of the way people would react to them and they were afraid of more persecution.  I watched the movie on Anne Frank.  It is amazing that anyone would survive this kind of torture and how human beings like Hitler could have been so misguided and so evil. Especially in light that they say he was Jewish!  

Answer 3

Yes, that is something that happened alot.  Madeline Albright's family is Jewish, and she (apparently) never even knew until she was already Secretary of State, due to just this type of thing.

Answer 4

What you describe is not at all unusual.  Many Holocaust survivors to this day still cannot bring themselves to speak of what happened to them.  The Holocaust was so traumatic that many Jews were afraid to show their Judaism even decades later.  And the effect that this had on children and even grandchildren of Holocaust survivors has been extremely well-documented.

It sounds like you are, in fact, Jewish.  If you're interested in converting there are a lot of resources available.  Feel free to e-mail me if you want.

Answer 5

In Russia, people have a citizenship (Russian) and a "nationality", which in grampa's case appears to be "Jewish".  This doen't mean he had the Jewish religion - only the nationality.  Don't ask me to explain it here - ask a Russian.  

You are not Jewish in any sense, though, unless your mother was Jewish.  So maybe he was the end of the line in your family.  You'll have to do some geneological research to figure the rest out.

Answer 6

Yes -- the trauma of the holocaust could have created such a sense of fear that your grandfather wanted to hide the fact that he was Jewish.

Ask any older surviving relatives about it  -- I'm sure you will uncover the truth, and that can be a way to honor the memory of your grandfather.