Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Berek Rothenberg - May 20, 1984

Did you tell your children what you told me?

I told them--they don't, they don't know. They don't--they're young. I mean uh, they, they watched The Holocaust--they see this. I tried to explain to them--I made a tape. I want to play it for you. I mean, it's hard, I know. My children--maybe if they be more educated and they be more involved. Or they're not so much involved, you know, and they're not--they just high school graduate children. And I honestly got--last year we had a--in, in Washington--from the Holocaust. I went over there and I was looking, I--and looking, looking. Had my name date on--I was looking. I couldn't find it. Finally I found one guy--only I know him when he got liberated. I didn't look for the living one, I was looking for a dead one. Maybe, maybe from my hometown. Yeah, I stayed with a guy in the line to buy a coffee. He said, "Where are you from." I said, "From Poland, Sandomierz." He said, "You know, here's one guy from Sandomierz" I said, "Where, where?" He showed me. I said, "I know him. He lives in New York. He's got a wife and two children." And he brought the wife and children, ??? Singer, I know her. Who survived, who's alive we know from each other. Or I was looking the guy what I didn't knew he survived I met him--I faced him. So those kind. Maybe my brother, maybe my sister, maybe a cousin, maybe some--I had so many cousins, so many relatives. Nobody, nobody. I'm lucky, I'm lucky that I found the family here in the United States. If I would not find in United States my family--I found my mother's sister's daughter in, in Israel, in Haifa so I go to her. We write to each other. We're like sister and brother. Only good I found my relatives here. I know that I, I, I got uh, roots--that I got family. The same grandfather, the same great-grandfather. And my father, and the uncle--uncle just died. He was almost ninety years old, William Rothenberg. And we got a lot of Rothenberg's, and uh, and we have a Rothenberg family club. And I, I am the, the whole uh, when the family comes together I entertain them because uh, we are better and then uh, we collect the money--they put in a quarter and they say the birthday or anniversary or graduation or confirmation, and I have a loud voice and I shout and, and everybody enjoys it. They stay in good money and everybody wants to put in. It doesn't come from me. And then I collect the money and then give it to the treasurer. In the summertime we have a picnic. In the wintertime we have a Chanukah party for our children, for our grandchildren. We come together. Summertime we got a, a cousin uh, Larry ???. He's got a swimming pool, so we go out to Larry ??? swimming pool and we enjoy the whole family. You know Larry ???