Student Tribune
"Tell Everyone My Story"
The Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Project
(HGHRP) has been inviting Holocaust survivors to share their stories for 30
years. Hearing their stories in the first person will not exist in the distant
future. As we approach the 30th Annual Yom HaShoah Commemoration, we will
continue to share the stories of the Rochester Holocaust survivors who have
spoken at MCC over the past 30 years.
Today, we would like to introduce you to:
Holocaust Survivor Lea Malek
Born in April of 1939 in the provincial town of
Janoshalma, Hungary, located some 105 miles south of Budapest, Lea Malek and
other Jews were segregated from the local population. Her grandfather was
blinded in one eye during his imprisonment by the Nazis. In 1942, Lea's father
was taken by the Nazis to a slave labor camp, where he died while building a
road to Stalingrad. According to camp survivors, the men were forced to remove
mines to secure the road for German forces. In May of 1944, the Nazis commenced
their roundup and deportation of Hungary's Jews. Lea's immediate and extended
family were first deported to a camp located on the border of Austria and
then-Czechoslovakia, and then from there to Auschwitz. Deportees were crammed
together in a cattle car that featured, she said, "one tiny window with a bar
across it. We were packed like herring in a jar." When they arrived at
Auschwitz, her family tried to stay together but became separated, and those
who were not chosen for work were murdered. Following the Russians' liberation
of Auschwitz in January of 1945, Lea lived in Hungary. In 1956, during the
chaos created by the Hungarian Revolution, Lea and her sister fled to Austria
and then went to Israel. Lea met her husband in Israel and they came to the
United States in 1960. They lived in Nebraska until 1966, when they moved to
Rochester, NY. The Maleks later opened Malek's Bakery on Monroe Avenue, where
they were able to pay for college for their three children. "As my grandmother
taught me, 'What you learn through education, no one can take away from you.'
"
***
We invite you to join HGHRP alumni and current student leaders in paying
tribute to Rochester-area Holocaust Survivors by helping to establish an
endowed scholarship in their name at the MCC Foundation. The Chai
Scholarship: A Tribute to Rochester Holocaust Survivors will be awarded to
an MCC student who reflects these survivors' courage and spirit. Your donation
can be sent to the MCC Foundation in care of Chai Scholarship.
The 30th Annual Yom HaShoah Commemoration will take place Wednesday, April
22, 2020, in the R. Thomas Flynn Campus Center Atrium. The traditional
candle-lighting ceremony, the calling of the names, and Holocaust survivor
testimony will begin at 9:00 a.m. Hosted by the HGHRP, this event is free and
open to the college community.
For more information, contact Jodi Oriel (Office of Student Life and
Leadership Development) at joriel@monroecc.edu.
Drumright, William
Anthrop/History/Poli. Science/Sociology
03/10/2020