History of Sorts

I wish I could tell you that this picture was used to have a good laugh at my history teacher Benno Redisch. The photograph was handed to us by his wife to use in a presentation on his 10th anniversary as a teacher, but he was not my teacher.

I wish I could tell you that this was given to me by my boss’s wife and that we used it on 13 January 1989 for his 50th birthday celebration. According to our good Dutch tradition, we make a doll or figurine called Abraham (according to the tradition, all men at age 50 see Abraham. I believe it is from the biblical Abraham). We glued the picture on the doll to use it as his face, as a joke—but he was not my boss.

I wish I could tell you that Benno had owned the bakery that made my wedding cake. But he never owned a bakery.

I wish I could tell you that I hurt my back, and Benno was the surgeon who fixed me. But Benno was not a surgeon.

I wish I could tell you that one day, we had a burst pipe in our apartment, and when I called my plumber, Benno, he arrived five minutes later and fixed the problem. But he was not a plumber.

I wish I could tell you Benno lived to age 10, but he didn’t.

I wish I could tell you Benno lived to age 9, but he didn’t.

I wish I could tell you Benno lived to age 8, but he didn’t.

I wish I could tell you Benno lived to age 7, but he didn’t.

I wish I could tell you Benno lived to age 6, but he didn’t.

I wish I could tell you Benno lived to age 5, but he didn’t.

Benno was murdered in Sobibor aged 4.

Benno was born in Amsterdam on 13 January 1939 and murdered on 4 June 1943 at Sobibor. He was murdered at Sobibor at age 4.

Benno was denied a life, and we were denied his life.

Source

https://www.joodsmonument.nl/nl/page/131233/benno-redisch