present mÆnni ruben’s theresienstadt 1945 ......mÆnni ruben’s theresienstadt 1945 autograph...

MÆNNI RUBEN’S THERESIENSTADT 1945AUTOGRAPH BOOK

Our sponsors who made this possible The Victoria Shoah ProjectMorris BlevissSydney KalefAnonymousJane MarshAnne Petrie

Research and Translations Dr. Richard KoolDr. Andrew GowSharon FitchDr. Ruth SimkinThomas Wiesner, CopenhagenYosta Tixell, JerusalemJessica Van der Veen Veronica KentDr. Silvia Goldbaum Tarabini Fracapane Paris

Graphic Design & Production Karie McKinley Editing & InstallationAnne Petrie

MediaLisa Abram

S P E C I A L T H A N K S

P R E S E N T

Writer, Project CoordinatorJanna Ginsberg Bleviss

Much appreciation to Rabbi Harry Brechner and the many others who nourished this project, shared stories, expertise, and offered moral support. We couldn’t have done this without your continued encouragement.

CONGREGATION EMANU-EL VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA AND THE VICTORIA SHOAH PROJECT ARE PLEASED TO DONATE THE AUTOGRAPH BOOK TO A CANADIAN MUSEUM FOR THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS AND HOLOCAUST STUDIES.

WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS EXHIBIT. WE INCLUDE SOME BUT NOT ALL OF THE BOOK ENTRIES; SOME OF THE SIGNATURES ARE ILLEGIBLE; WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONTINUE RESEARCHING THESE HEADY DAYS OF LIBERATION IN 1945.

CONGREGATION EMANU-EL

Copyright © 2020 Janna Ginsberg Bleviss and Victoria Shoah Project. All rights reserved.

A B O O K O F M U S I C , FA R E W E L L S & F R I E N D S H I P

Unknown to most of us, an unusual book has been in our midst for decades. The book is 75 years old and was handed to Rabbi Harry Brechner by beloved congregant Susi Deston (z”l) before she died in 2018.

The Autograph Book belonged to her first husband Mænni (Moses) Ruben who was a violinist from Copenhagen.

In 1943 Mænni and his family were sent to Theresienstadt near Prague. This unique ghetto/camp was where Nazis kept prominent Jews.

The camp was known for music. The prisoners included musicians, intellectuals, artists, religious leaders and hundreds of children. An historic Red Cross concert was held in 1944 where inmates were forced to pretend life was good and play for the Germans and the visiting International Red Cross.

This remarkable autograph book begins as the war is ending and the prisoners are liberated. What emerges from these pages of drawings, greetings and pieces of music is the resiliency of the survivors and themes of friendships, farewells and the love of music.

From April 1945 and carrying through to April 1946, you’ll meet Mænni, through the eyes of artist Hilda Zadikow, Rabbi Leo Baeck and many distinguished European musicians, composers and actors.


Coat of arms of the city of Terezín under a Magen David made of barbed wire. by Hilda Zadikow

Cover

Title Page



M Æ N N I R U B E N

Who is this man who never set foot in Canada? We are able to honour Mænni and present this exhibit because of his wife Susi Ruben Deston [z”l] and his nephew Yosta Tixell, who lives in Israel.

Mænni Ruben and his two sisters, Klara and Judith, brother Daniel, his mother Betti and father Leon Abraham, were sent to Theresienstadt in October 1943, along with nearly 500 other Danish Jews.

Theresienstadt was originally a Czech walled military town called Terezin, named for Empress Maria Theresa in the late 18th century. It was taken over by the Germans as a ghetto/camp for prisoners when it opened on November 24, 1941.

There were many concerts and operas at Theresienstadt. In the camp Mænni was given a violin of “a beautiful tone.” It was a composite violin, the body was a different make from its neck. It did not have a complete body and bore the label of an important Renaissance violin maker. This violin is now in South Africa. Mænni’s father died in the camp but the rest of the family were evacuated by the white buses, sent by the Swedish Red Cross, in April 1945.

Mænni returned home after the war. A few years later he met Susi. They married and both played in the Copenhagen Youth Orchestra. They had a life together playing music. Thanks to Ann Elliott-Goldschmid for describing the violin Mænni played in the camp. Ann lives in Victoria, BC and is a founding member of the Lafayette String Quartet. She knew Susi and Avi Deston, Susi’s second husband, and played Mænni’s violin before it was sent to South Africa.

Page 6What an artist you are/that is beyond question - Whether a painter, a musician, or whatever kind?The reason I chose painting for your sake/Is only because that art/Is not as loud for me!Think often and fondly of Yours, Hans GrünewaldTheresienstadt 1945.

Page 20“But we’ll play the rifles one more time!” In memory Jarka Adlerood

Mænni Ruben

Mænni & Susi




S U S I D E S T O N

We have the autograph book because of Susi Deston.

She travelled over many continents and decades before reaching Victoria.

Susi wasn’t always Susi Deston. She was born Suzanne Rica Ejsen in 1931 in Basel, Switzerland, and spent the war years hiding in the mountains at an aunt’s summer house.

Susi met Mænni Ruben after Second World War at a Jewish summer youth camp in Switzerland. Married on August 3, 1952 they lived in his mother’s house in Copenhagen and played in an orchestra. Susi played the cello and Mænni played the violin.

Mænni also worked as a graphic designer and Susi as a fashion designer.After 24 years together, Mænni died in 1976, and Susi was ready for a new life.

Her company had an opening in Israel and she met Dr. Avi Deston during her second trip there. They were married in 1978. Their next years together were an adventure. Avi, a Russian nuclear physicist from Kiev, was running from the KGB. He defected to Canada and was stateless when he met Susi.

They went to South Africa for 13 years where Avi taught physics at the University of Transkei. On his retirement, they came to Victoria in 1992.

Susi brought with her Mænni’s autograph book, his violin from Theresienstadt (now in South Africa being played by the son of Susi’s dear friend) and a doll she had since childhood.

And if you knew Susi in Victoria you knew about her hats!

Theresienstadt Camp Czech Republic

2 Copenhagen,

Denmark

3 Israel

4 Umtata,

(formerly Transkei) South Africa

6 Victoria, BC

Canada5

Edmonton, AB Canada

SUSI’S TRAVEL ROUTE

Susi DestonDrawing and sketchbook inside cover by Susi Deston

1 Switzerland


Hilda and Marianne survived the war years in Theresienstadt and afterwards went to Prague.

Life was difficult as they were German citizens with no work papers.Hilda went to Italy, then Israel, and finally joined her daughter in the USA where she died in 1974. Marianne published her own autograph book.

Hilda’s sensitive drawings bring alive the life in Theresienstadt and form a significant part of Mænni’s autograph book.

H I L D A Z A D I KO W

Hilda Zadikow, born in Prague in 1890, was a respected artist and married to sculptor Arnold Zadikow. They lived in Munich where their daughter Marianne was born in 1923.

In the mid 1930s they moved to Prague, after the Nazi seizure of power. They were sent to Theresienstadt in May 1942, where Arnold died.In 1943, while still in the camp, Hilda created a beautiful Jewish calendar, now in the Jewish Museum in Prague.

Page 21Terezín 1945After a deportation.H. Zadikow.by Hilda Zadikow

Page 22Hof Bahnhofstr. 35.H. Zadikow by Hilda Zadikow

Page 23Barracks in Bahnhofstr. 2.Terezín 1945. H. Zadikow.by Hilda Zadikow



M U S I C W A S A B I G PA R T O F L I F E I N T H E C A M P.D AY A F T E R D AY P R I S O N E R S W E R E S E N T T O T H E E X T E R M I N AT I O N C A M P S .

M U S I C W A S A C H A N C E T O C O M E T O G E T H E R .

Page 11 In memory of the uplifting musical performances in the “Freizeit” during our exile at Terezin. J Poppelsdorf. 1st Violist, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam. Terezin 30 May 1945

Page 10“Traviata” In memory of the ‘opera evening’ at Theresienstadt Leo Pappenheim 3.5.45

Loose Insert Drawing of Opera figures by Hilda Zadikow

Page 15One bar of musicIn fond memory of copying out scores together and of playing in the orchestra at Theresienstadt Marta Remm [?] 30.6.45

Page 26Music must be the most demanding lover, requiring unconditional devotion of body and soul, each and every day, and for one’s entire life!In memory of making music together. Mr. Rudi Pick. Theresienstadt May 1945.


A L I C E S O M M E R H E R Z

Alice was born in 1903 in Prague. She had a cultured background. Her parents ran a salon where, as a child, she met many luminaries, including composer Gustav Mahler, writer Franz Kafka, and intellectual Sigmund Freud. She was well trained as a pianist and knew Artur Schnabel.

She was a professional pianist as a teenager and was deported to Theresienstadt in 1943 with her husband and young son. She played hundreds of concerts in the ghetto/camp, including the famous Red Cross concert in 1944.

Alice survived; her husband did not. After 40 years in Israel she moved to London in 1986 to be near her son, Raphael (Stefan), who was a cellist and also played in the camp.

At the age of 104 she published a book, A Garden of Eden in Hell. In 2013 an Academy Award winning documentary was made about her when she was 109, The Lady in Number 6, her flat number in London.

Alice walked and swam and played the piano every day. Believing strongly in the power of music she said “I am Jewish but my religion is Beethoven.”

She died at the age of 110 in 2014.


Page 51 May 1945In memory of music at Theresienstadt and in strong hopes of a better futureAlice Sommer HerzStefan Sommer (son)Paul Herz (brother)

Loose InsertMarch 27, 1945 Concert Program



FA R E W E L L S A N D F R I E N D S H I P S

Page 30All the best for the future! Theresienstadt will have been nothing but a bad dream!30 June 1945 [Illegible signature]

Page 19Never forget Theresienstadt!4 Mai 45 [Illegible signature] MEINHARD.

Page 7Remember the little shul in Block IV, Margulinksy’s top bunk, my lower bunk and my bed-mate Peter Deutsch -These days of our shared suffering are now behind us, but our friendship, founded on our shared misery, will survive.We will always be connected in spirit.With warmest regards, [Illegible signature]

Page 2Magen David decorated with flowers drawing Your old friend Hilda Zadikow wishes you all the best and delight in beauty.Theresienstadt, 19 April 1945.by Hilda Zadikow

Page 27/28Theresienstadt, 23 June 1945L. Baeck.

Page 13We know each other only from having greeted each other in a friendly way, but that too is a good memory.All the best! Miriam Pardies

R A B B I L E O B A E C K

Rabbi Leo Baeck was a leader of the German Jewish community. During the Nazi era he refused offers to escape and stayed on at Theresiensadt for many months tending to the spiritual strength of those exposed to the typhus epidemic.


W H I T E B U S E S

What were these White Buses? As early as 1943 Sweden, Denmark and Norway were concerned for their citizens in the German concentration camps.

They began investigating how to release their people of all religions.Authorized by Britain and together with the Swedish government, the Swedish Red Cross began evacuating the camps in April 1945.

Their buses were painted white with a Red Cross so as not to be confused with military vehicles.

It was a quasi-military operation with supplies, vehicles and a staff of about 300 including doctors, nurses and many volunteers. Citizens from 20 countries were rescued, although they were primarily Scandinavians. They were brought to Sweden and Denmark.

The white buses were responsible for rescuing 15,000 people in April 1945. Many trips were made to different camps. The buses were attacked by air and driving through Germany was perilous. The return transports through Denmark were met by ecstatic crowds.

Mænni’s family were some of the 423 rescued Jewish Danes from Theresienstadt. Of the 140,000 Jews who were sent to the crowded camp, 33,000 died, 88,000 were deported to the extermination camps and 17,000 survived.

Theresienstadt was officially liberated on May 8, 1945. The White Buses continued to evacuate 10,000 more prisoners in May and June after Germany’s surrender.

Despite controversy around who was rescued, it was a huge Swedish humanitarian effort.


Page 4 Cartoon drawings of the white buses Theresienstadt, ‘April 1945 [unknow word]“Stop! Stop!” Sweden - Red Cross“What is it?”“Rubens should not forget to Graags.”

White Buses at Theresienstadt, 1945



Mænni Ruben and the combo in Copenhagen 1953. The back-drop is a view from the Queen Louise Bridge toward The Lakes in Copenhagen, and the same neon signs are still there today.

Page 8Dear Mennie! Can you play this on the violin? On two strings!Main theme of Symphonie No. 1. In memory of Theresiensadt. Your old friend 12 March 46 Peter Deutsch

Page 33In Joy at our meeting in freedom at the house of Peter Deutsch.Sal Inijder

Page 34In memory of our friendship at Theresienstadt and of our reunion at the home of Peter Deutsch on 6 April 1946 in Copenhagen.Sam Tromp 1st Violin, Concertgebouw Orchestra.

1 9 4 6 — A G AT H E R I N G O F M U S I C I A N S I N C O P E N H A G E N A F T E R T H E W A R

On April 6, 1946 there was a concert in Copenhagen with the Amsterdam Orchestra that reunited several of the musicians from Theresienstadt.These autographs (left) are from a dinner held at the home of Peter Deutsch prior to the concert.

Peter Deutsch, composer and conductor, directed the Danish Youth Symphony after the war. For many years, Mænni played in and was Concertmaster for an accomplished amateur group, Eufrosyne, founded in 1875 and disbanded in 2019.


present mÆnni ruben’s theresienstadt 1945 ......mÆnni ruben’s theresienstadt 1945 autograph...

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