In honor of International Holocaust Memorial Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Berkeley Carroll Upper School students had the opportunity to listen to visiting speaker Theodora (Dora) Klayman’s personal history of surviving the Holocaust.
The planning of the event was organized by senior Sofia L. in collaboration with her fellow Jewish Culture Club (JCC) co-leaders Sol B., Lily B., Dahlia G., and Assistant Director of the Upper School and JCC Advisor Scott Rubin.
Sofia shared the desire “to offer a space for Jewish and non-Jewish students alike, including those who have and have not participated in the Holocaust and Human Behavior class to engage with and learn from a Holocaust survivor, a privilege that young people and students will not be able to take advantage of soon.”
According to her biography on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum site, Theodora (Dora) Klayman was born Teodora Rahela Basch in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (present-day Croatia), on January 31, 1938. Her father Salamon, owned and operated a small brush manufacturing plant. Her mother, Silva, grew up in Ludbreg, a small town northeast of Zagreb. She was a teacher. Her mother’s father, Josef Leopold Deutsch, served as the community rabbi for more than 40 years.
Since 1999, Mrs. Klayman has volunteered with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, both as a speaker, bringing attention to her experience and the experience of her family, and as a translator, uncovering documents written in various Balkan languages.
Sofia stated, “Mrs. Klayman's story is one unlike the most common history of Holocaust survival stories. She lived not under the Nazis, but under the Ustaša, a fascist group just as horrific, but significantly lesser known, one I believe is important to share with as many people as possible.”
During the presentation, Mrs. Klayman reflected on how she and her family members experienced the war—she showed multiple photographs that documented those challenging years, and shared about the hardship and the loss that they endured.
Assistant Director of the Upper School and JCC Advisor Scott Rubin reflected on the powerful presentation stating, “The firsthand account and the story told alongside the pictures was very moving.”
At the end of the presentation, students asked Mrs. Klayman thoughtful questions about her lived experience, and asked for any advice on how to combat the rise of antisemitism and fascism in modern times. Mrs. Klayman replied, “The best way is to do exactly what you and I are doing. You are listening and talking and thinking, and I'm telling you what happened, and we need to remember what happened in the past because we can learn from the past.”