We heard the question “Are you making a difference?” several times from Holocaust survivor Manfred “Manny” Lindenbaum on April 6 at the Performing Arts Center SLO. He was invited by Chabad of SLO and Cal Poly to share his story as a passionate peace activist, octogenarian, and speaker at community events and schools about bullying and diversity.
When Lindenbaum boarded the last Kindertrain to England, he was 100% sure he would never see his family again. The Kindertransport was an effort to rescue children from Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1939. He was on the last transport, which left the day before WW II started.
The United Kingdom took in nearly 10,000 children, most of them Jewish. The children, who were placed in British homes, were often the only members of their families to survive the Holocaust. While Lindenbaum lived with Christian families for six years, it was never a question in his mind that anyone could take his religion from him.
When you can make a difference, you feel good.”
He shared key moments of loss and frustration and how he turned that around through volunteering, which brings him the most joy.
Lindenbaum has spent his life protesting and speaking to youth, explaining that when you can make a difference, you feel good.
“It would be easy for us to stop listening to the news and get depressed,” he said. “But you must pursue what you believe is right from wrong.” He suggested that emailing a congressperson can make a difference: “It really can.”
Beyond contacting elected officials, he suggested that change can come from talking with people with whom you disagree, talking about what you can agree on. After finding commonality, he said, you can eventually broach the subjects on which you can’t agree.
His message: We must do something. We cannot just be bystanders.”
Lindenbaum sees a lot of parallels today with what happened in the past. He is very concerned with aid being cut off to refugees, and is especially sensitive to the refugees currently being separated from their families. “That was me,” he said.
When people ask him why it is so important to remember the Holocaust, he referred to the concept of people thinking themselves to be “superior” to “lower” people.
He shared a story of how there were kids on a school bus and a boy was getting beat up. Twenty students got off the bus to stand and watch. He likened it to Nazi Germany, where people who didn’t like what was happening became bystanders in huge numbers. His message: We must do something. We cannot just be bystanders.
Following his talk was a question-and-answer period where he spoke about his passion for helping refugees, and the inspiration his wife, Anabelle, has provided the past 62 years. At her suggestion he closed with the story of a surprise invitation from the Obama White House to light Chanukah candles one year. He brought along a photo of his sister, who was killed in a concentration camp because at age 14, she was considered too old to board the Kindertrain.
Lindenbaum never saw her again, but he always remembered her asking him if he was making a difference.
Manny Lindenbaum founded the Peace, Genocide and Holocaust Center at Ocean County College, and he created the first Jewish Family and Children’s Service for the Ocean County Jewish Federation, where he was chairperson of their Community Relations Committee. He was an active member of the Brookdale Community College Holocaust Center, and has conducted prison workshops on “Alternatives to Violence.” He has also served on the Labor Zionist Alliance (now Ameinu), and was a founding member and past president of the American Habonim Association of Central Jersey.