Photo sent by Mayor Gary Christenson. Pictured on the left is Israel Arbeiter, and on the right is Mayor Gary Christenson
Written by Sidney Rodriguez and Antonio Tarantino
Earlier this week, former president of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston, and survivor of the Holocaust himself, Israel Arbeiter revisited the accounts of his life in front of the seniors and faculty of Malden High School. He spoke about tribulations he overcame as a slave under the Nazi regime in Auschwitz.
With his arrival, groups of seniors greeted Arbeiter on stage. Some students introduced themselves, and all were thanking him for coming out of retirement of public speaking to come speak to them. One student, in particular, senior Taylor Winter, who also took a field trip to the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston where she first met Mr. Arbeiter, thanked him for coming to the school. Winter felt that it was “quite special for the students to listen to a Holocaust survivor tell their story for themselves”.
As the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, Antonetta Remedi-Brown expressed that “hearing another person’s ordeals [was]resonating”. She said that the “horrors” Arbeiter brought up in his story, “[were] the devastating reality of many Holocaust survivors, like [her] grandfather’s”. Realities like, divisions of families, starvation, and slave labor.
Israel Arbeiter was born in a city called Plock in Poland. He was declared a slave at the age of 14 when the German army invaded the city of Plock in September 1939. He and his family were then transported to a ghetto in central Poland called Starachowice. The ghettos were used to give the German military an easy way to keep all Jews in one place so they could transport them once the German government figured out what to do with all of them. Arbeiter, and two of his brothers were then forced to work at an ammunition factory to work for the German military. Arbeiter also had to work for the Gestapo which was the Nazi police force. He was forced to do things such as shine the officer’s boots. This went on until 1942.
Israel Arbeiter went on to ask the audience to raise their hands if they have taken a Holocaust history course, which resulted in nobody raising their hands. He then went on to describe how he pictured the decision to exterminate the Jews was made by a bunch of drunken high ranking SS officers.
Arbeiter explained how in the beginning the Germans would drive the Jews around in buses and trucks in which they connected the exhaust to the inside of them so that they would die of carbon monoxide poisoning. But because this method was too slow, the Germans came up with three ways to exterminate the Jewish people fast. They would lower their food rations, make them work hard labor with minimal food, and also use the gas chambers.
On October 26, 1942, a special unit came into Arbeiters’ ghetto and rounded up the Jews for selection. Arbeiter and two of his brothers were placed on the left side while his mother, father and younger brother were placed on the right. He tried running to their side so that he can be with them wherever they were going but his father told him to go back to the other side and to carry on the Jewish tradition. His mother, father, and younger brother were later murdered that day. He expressed this day to be “The darkest day of his life and [it] will continue to be until [he] [dies]”.
After that, Arbeiter and his brothers worked at the ammunition factory. He described the treatment they got resembled to animals. There was, however, a doctor because there was an outbreak of typhus within the camp. If a prisoner got sick then the Germans would kill them because they didn’t want to take the time to heal them. The doctor would aid in the spread of the disease because he would not wash the thermometer he used to check the patients. Arbeiter was among one of the people infected and was put into quarantine. When the quarantine barack got too full, the Germans would kill the infected in the forest to make more room.
In his second night in the barrack, a camp commander of whom which Arbeiter testified against after the war, came in and ordered the 87 people in the barrack out. Arbeiter managed to sneak out but was still dead according to the Germans. This meant that he got no food ration. Arbeiter was helped hidden in one of the barracks in the camp by some of his friends. The risk of hiding somebody was that they would kill anyone doing so, plus 25 other people.When that barrack was searched, they didn’t find him. Arbeiter was however brought back to the quarantine barrack by a Jewish police officer in the camp that promised he would bring him food and help him hide if needed later. Also, a woman who worked in the kitchen who Arbeiter was friends with stole extra food for him as well. As a result, Arbeiter got stronger and healed from typhus.
After a while, Arbeiter was forced to leave the Starachowice slave labor camp he was at and went to a number of different camps. At one point he was put on a death march where the Germans took a number of Jews around to different places and tried to find a place to keep them. He was liberated in the middle of this death march in the black forest on his twentieth birthday.
Arbeiter explained that he did not know what to do after his liberation. He was taken care of by a German family after that. But he wondered where his family was. He expressed the confusion he felt for being liberated after being a slave for five and a half years during his teenage years. His life was halted at the age of fourteen. He explained that he had no guidance from anybody and was not able to grow up normally due to all of this.
Arbeiter told the story of how he later stole a high ranking Nazi’s motorcycle. He said that this motorcycle was his lifeline. With that motorcycle, he could find his family and reconnect with the women who saved him from starvation. Who later became his wife, Chanka Arbeiter.
Lastly, Arbeiter pointed out a poster hung in the halls of Malden High School which displayed the statement saying “Stop Bullying”. He used this to express how the student of Malden High should know the power of resilience, and the importance of standing up to bullying.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Remedi-Brown’s grandmother was a Holocaust survivor. The article has been corrected to state that is was her grandfather that was a Holocaust survivor.
I appreciated that he came and told his story, I am indeed sincere about what happened and I believe that he was brave for doing so, so thank you.
It’s refreshing to see someone with that amount of grit who went through lots of hardships during his lifetime. Israel Arbeiter definitely has a story to tell for the ages.
Israel’s story is very inspiring. It is much appreciated that Israel shared his Holocaust story despite the difficulty it must have caused him to reflect on such events. As young students, we are thankful for being enlightened on the reality of such tragic events and inspired by Israel’s ability to overcome what he was forced to go through.
thank you for coming to speak to us it was great to hear from someone that when through what you did.
Thank you Mr. Israel Arbeiter for taking time out of your day and coming out of your retirement to come speak to us, Malden High seniors, about your experience in the Holocaust. It’s inspiring to see how courageous you are to speak about the horrible time you had in your life. The work you did speaking definitely makes a difference because it reminds us to always speak against evil and bullies whether they’re bullies in school, work, or in our life in general. Once again, thank you so much!
Thank you for coming out to Malden High school and taking you’re time to come tell a story that you haven’t told in a long time. you’re story was very important to me because a holocaust survivor who got through all of that and can still tell what he went through. Thank you!
Mr. Arbeiter,
I, along with the all of the kids you spoke to would like to sincerely thank you for coming to Malden High and sharing your touching story. When I first met you at the Holocaust memorial, everything hit me when you rolled up your sleeve and showed your number tattoo. You are an inspiration and it is extremely important, as you know, that you continue to share your story. Even if some choose not to listen, you have the capability to reach out to kids individually and teach them that we as people must live together with love and kindness rather than separation and hatred.
Thank you,
A Malden High Student
Mr. Arbeiters words were extremely inspiring and touching. His strong will has motivated me to persevere through challenges and his story has taught me to appreciate the opportunities I have been gifted with in my life.
For me it was a very profound experience to hear him talk, because we have all herd and read of the stories, but have never actually have seen someone in person talk about their story. It really made the whole thing more real, to see the emotion in his face and his eyes when he was speaking about his story , it just reminds you that history isn’t always just stories. That there were real people and real lives that were completely turned upside down, and the fact that he came out of retirement just for us made very special.
Thank you so much for coming out to speak to us, your presentation was very informative and interesting and I’m glad to have been part of the class of 2018 who were invited to listen to your speech.
Thank you for coming out from your retirement just to talk to us about what you have experienced during the Holocaust even thought it may have been hard to talk about it and what exactly happened. Thank you so much for coming all the way to our school to speak to us.
Thank you Mr. Arbeiter for speaking with us! This was a very unique opportunity and a timely reminder of our duty to ourselves and those around us to make the world a better place.
Dear Mr. Arbeiter,
I know it must’ve been difficult to retell your story so thank you very much. Your determination is truly inspiring. I wish you and your entire family nothing but the best.
Sincerely,
Amy A.
P.S. The story of how you and your wife fell in love was adorable.
It was eye-opening for me got me to appreciate where I am and see how a man that has gone through so much is able to come out strong and a changed man. It’s crazy to imagine going through this at a young age and at a time where you should be happy and I sorry for all you have gone through I a hope you have a wonderful that care fee and nothing like what you had to go through as a kid thank you
Mr. Arbeiter, your presentation was truly inspiring. It is amazing what you went through and where you are now. I’m very thankful for your talk and appreciate how it was less of you preaching at us and more of just a conversation, I know that thing things you said touched many of us. I’m very happy that you were able to grow old with your wife and continued to be a great man.
Thank you again,
Marguerite Ortiz
Mr. Arbeiter, Thank you for coming to Malden High and used to your time to tell us your story. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to hear such a story and life you have. Please enjoy your retirement!
Thank you so much Mr. Arbeiter for coming to speak to our senior class. Your story was remarkable and inspiring. I appreciate you for sharing you story and how you overcame a traumatic experience.
Thank you, Mr.Israel Arbeiter. I, and the rest of Malden high appreciate you coming out and talking to us. Your story was inspiring, and touching. Hope you and your family are doing great. I wish you the best of everything.
Thank you, Mr. Arbeiter, so much for coming to MHS and telling us your experience during the Holocaust, I hope you and your family thrive.
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to share your story. It was very inspiring and I appreciate it. You are very brave and courageous and I hope you get to make many wonderful memories with your family,
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to share your story. It was very inspiring and I appreciate it. You are very brave and courageous and I hope you get to make many wonderful memories with your family,
Your story was truly inspiring we all thank you so much for coming to talk to us about your difficult journey and sharing with us everything you had to go through. It’s amazing to see how far you came from such a hard past, we all thank you so much for sharing and the knowledge that came with it.
Thank you Mr. Israel Arbeiter for coming to Malden High and sharing your story with us. It was an amazing experience to be able to hear from you. I wish the best for you and your family.
Thank you so much for coming and speaking to us about your story. It was both very inspiring and informative. Wishing you and your family good health!
Mr. Arbeiter, I, along with the rest of the students at Malden High, would like to thank you for coming to speak with us about your inspiring story. You are a true inspiration to us and when I first met you at the Memorial, I was in awe of your strength. Thank you again for sharing your story and I wish you nothing but the best.
Thank you for all that you do,
Jenny Huynh
Very touching. Thank you for speaking to us.
Mr. Arbeiter, I, along with the students at Malden High, would like to thank you for sharing your story. You are a true inspiration to us and when we first met at the Memorial, I was in awe of your strength. Thank you for inspiring us and I wish you nothing but the best.
Thank you for all that you do,
Jenny Huynh
Thank you Mr.Israel for coming to Malden High and sharing your story with us. Not only have you inspired us to stand up for what is right, you’ve inspired the future generations that will after after us. Once again, thank you.
I hope nothing but the best.
It must’ve been difficult to discuss about the past, and present it to us thank you for being sincere, and for telling us about your past experience, and how you made it here with us we are glad that you are still alive, and kicking we hope for you the best
Mr. Arbeiter,
Thank you for taking time to share your incredible story with us. Horrors of the Holocaust extend beyond the texts that students read in the classroom. Your first-hand account conveyed the traumas of life during the Holocaust, but more importantly, the importance of standing up against immorality. Thank you for sharing your story.
Mr, Arbeiter,
Thank you for taking time out of your day and coming to the school and telling us about your past. Your first hand account on the Holocaust really educated me more about that horrific time. Thank you for sharing you story to the senior class and being so brave.