Table Of ContentMARCH INTO LIFE
A MEMOIR BY MAX ZILBERMAN
MARCH INTO LIFE
WITH
BRAHAM ZILBERMAN
AND
RHONDA NORICH
MARCH INTO LIFE
© Braham Zilberman and Rhonda Norich 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without the permission in
writing from the publisher.
ISBN: 978 0 9808460 8 9
Layout and production: [email protected]
Cover illustration: The music to the song March into
Life, which Max hummed to composer Peter Lager,
5th April, 1947 and chose as the title for this book.
iv
DEDICATION
If Max were here he would dedicate this
book to his loving parents and brothers who
all perished in the Holocaust, and to his
twin sister who died shortly thereafter.
He would have also dedicated this book
to his dear wife Dora and his two children
Rhonda and Braham and their spouses Leo
and Andrea.
His hope would be that his grandchildren,
great grandchildren and future generations
would draw inspiration from his story.
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MARCH INTO LIFE
FOREWORD
I
t’s a very unusual situation in which I find myself having to
write an introduction to my father’s autobiography. After all,
it was his story, he did all the work and he deserves all the
kudos. However, his death in July 2014, before he had even seen the
finished product of his literary labour, necessitates that another
describes the motivation and background to his extraordinary
story. This role falls to me.
That Max Zilberman (February 13th 1926 – July 24th 2014) was a
Holocaust survivor is true. Yet he was so much more and he refused
to be defined by this six-year period of his life. I believe that this
book shows almost the full extent of his life, a life well lived.
When writing an autobiography, the first question an author
would ask is, ‘Why am I doing this?’ I will attempt to answer this
on Dad’s behalf. Dad believed he had a story that was worthwhile
and one that he wanted to share. Originally, he wanted to write
his story for his children, grandchildren and extended family, but
ostensibly he felt his story had meaning for a wider readership.
He had a healthy ego and a belief in his own ability and wanted
to give it a try. This, coupled with his genealogical interest and
computer nous, was enough to get him started.
He began slowly two-finger typing on his old computer in 2009,
researching everything himself. Some days he worked for five or
six hours; then for weeks as the effort became more draining, he
would do nothing at all. Then he would go back and get stuck
into it again. All this against a backdrop of him having to care
for his beloved wife Dora who was suffering major health issues.
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FOREWORD
He never sought help from any outside sources and besides his
immediate family, he never told anyone he was writing his story.
Dad enjoyed writing about his childhood in pre-war Poland and
I believe the reader will sense his love for his parents and siblings
which shines through the pages. He tackled the period in the Lodz
Ghetto with an attention to detail and the minutia of life that
really illustrates the bleakness of the time. I particularly admired
this chapter as many know the historical details of what occurred
in the Lodz Ghetto, but to learn of the day-to-day experiences
of one family and their struggle to keep the family unit together
under the most horrific of circumstances, makes it come alive for
us and is, I believe, of great historical significance.
Dad’s chapters about his experiences in Auschwitz and
Buchenwald are a credit to his great memory and his resolve to tell
all about this period. Again, his attention to detail is remarkable
as is his steely resolve to survive under the harshest of conditions.
Recuperating in Switzerland is like a breath of fresh air for
Dad and changes the tone of the book. Dad goes from a boy to a
man, from a prisoner to a free man, and his spiritual and physical
awakening and renewal is almost palpable. Here he comes to learn
that he has lost virtually his whole family, yet he is determined
to push on with his life and look forward. It is also here that he
becomes part of a group of like-minded boys, most with similar
yet different stories behind them, that becomes known as the
Buchenwald Boys. This group, so aptly described by Rhonda in
her chapter A New Life, nourishes Dad as it gives him a social
group with which to identify at a crucial time in his life. Many
of the Buchenwald Boys became his lifelong friends and deserve
mention by name. Moniek Rose, Chaim Jason, Charlie Spicer,
Szaja Chaskiel, Henry Salter, Jack Alterwein, Joe Swarczberg and
Simon Michalowicz were some of Dad’s closest friends. But he was
also deeply involved with the group as a whole — of about 66 boys
who made their lives in Australia — and was very proud to be its
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MARCH INTO LIFE
president for many years, officiating at functions, including the
legendary Buchenwald Ball that still continues every year. Sadly,
many group members have passed away, but there are still quite a
few kicking up their heels on April 11th each year. Long may they
continue to dance.
It would be remiss if I didn’t also mention Dad’s two Buchenwald
mates who live overseas and thankfully are both fit and well. Elias
Zylberberg in Tel Aviv was a great friend of Dad’s and became
like family to me and I visit him every time I am in Israel. Aron
Schlomowicz in Zurich, the lone Buchenwald Boy who remained
in Switzerland, kept in contact with Dad all through the years and
visited him in Melbourne many times.
As Dad’s health started to deteriorate in mid-2014, Daniel,
Rhonda’s youngest son, returned from overseas to spend some
final quality time with his grandfather. Dad was getting too frail
to work on the computer himself, so Daniel went to see Dad
every day with his laptop computer, and as Dad dictated his final
chapters, Daniel faithfully recorded it all. He always was under
Dad’s instructions to change ‘not one word’. Our family very
much appreciates Daniel’s efforts, without which much of this
book would not have been written. Dad died only a few days after
his final dictation session with Daniel. Possibly he felt his final
chapter had been written.
Rhonda and I decided that Dad’s story was not quite finished,
even though he stopped his story at the end of Chapter 6, Leaving
for Australia. We believed that several events in Dad’s later life
were worthy of inclusion in this book and that Dad would have
wanted them included. Chapter 7, A New Life, was written by
Rhonda. This chapter tells of Dad’s business and professional life,
his family and of course the Buchenwald Boys.
Chapters 8 and 9 were written by me and tell of Dad searching
and finding lost family and his March of the Living experience.
Chapter 10 contains heartfelt tributes by his grandchildren.
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