11 hours ago
1
“The start to a new life.”
Just six words made an impact on Lily Ebert in 1945, a year after she and her family were forced out of Hungary and sent to the notorious death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, where her mother, younger sister, brother and over 100 members of her extended family were killed in the gas chambers.
Ebert and two of her sisters were chosen to work for the Nazis until they were “no longer useful,” her great-grandson Dov Forman, 21, recently told The Post.
In April 1945, Ebert and her sisters were on a “death march” when American-Jewish forces liberated them.
One of these soldiers gave Ebert a banknote with a hopeful message: “The start to a new life. Good luck and happiness.”
Now, her story and memories are among the many honored in Nikki Schreiber’s new book “Humans of Judaism,” a collection of over 200 moving stories of Jewish identity and perseverance, including those of Holocaust survivors, artists, inventors, founders, celebrities and personal family histories.
And, at a time of rising antisemitism, people are turning to heartfelt stories like these to find light in the darkness.
“Lily Ebert really was personal to me,” Schreiber shared with The Post. “It’s a tough reality, but the treasure and hopefully the comfort to the surviving family is to see that there are various outlets offering to further the legacy. I hope it’s something meaningful.”
For Forman, having Ebert’s story live on through the heartwarming book “means so much.”
“To the world, she was this heroine, an inspiration. She was a hero to so many. To me, she was just my great-grandmother, and to our family she was just that ever-present queen of our large, loving family,” Forman shared.
An ‘unbelievable’ reunion
Seventy-six years after Ebert was saved, Forman posted a photo of the banknote on X (then Twitter) during the COVID-19 pandemic, and thanks to the power of social media, she was able to connect with the late soldier’s children on a video call in 2020.
“It is unbelievable. I never knew something like this could happen. It was a fantastic feeling,” Ebert told NBC at the time.
“It was really special. It felt like we were family, we just clicked,” Forman added.
From there on, Ebert and Forman dedicated their online presence to Holocaust education, and with over a billion views across all platforms and 2 million followers, many found themselves inspired by Ebert — including King Charles III, who commissioned a painting of her for Buckingham Palace.
Ebert had made a promise to herself that if she survived the Holocaust, she would educate the world to make sure something like it would never happen again.
And she did, writing a memoir entitled “Lily’s Promise” and sharing her story with the world before she died at the age of 100 in October.
Having her story included in the “Humans of Judaism” book keeps her memory alive, Forman said.
“It’s obviously a massive loss, but to know that she lives on in so many people, and in these books, and that she inspires so many to live their lives in such amazing and positive ways,” Forman said. “To know that so many people do what they do because of my great-grandmother is so special for us as a family.
“I think each contributor that participated … it’s their story, it’s the entire book for them,” Schreiber added. “It’s so wild — it’s really just meaningful.”
Humans of Judaism
Stories like Ebert’s have become a way for Schreiber to deal with her own grief. After her father passed, she decided to honor his memory by starting the Humans of Judaism Instagram account, telling stories of lament and ultimately hope.
The release of Schreiber’s book coincided with the 10th anniversary of her social media page, and coincidentally, the tome also came when the Jewish community was suffering collective grief during a time when levels of antisemitism had reached a record high amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“The timing was pretty wild with what was going on in the Jewish world,” Schreiber said. “This was birthed out of my own personal grief, and here I stand again 10 years later in a personal community grief with everybody.”
The hand-selected Jewish stories range from famous and notable people like Louis and Lillian Zabar, the founders of the world-famous Zabar’s market, to Holocaust survivors like Ebert to everyday people with extraordinary stories. However, picking specific tales for the book had a bit more intention and consideration, “taking gentle care of their families’ stories and treasured history,” Schreiber said.
“This past year was an interesting one,” she admitted. “On the one hand, you want to tell your stories; on the other hand, we’re publicizing information, names, things like that — it got a little trickier this year, I’m not going to pretend it didn’t.”
Working on the book through and past the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Gaza added another “significant” layer of purpose and meaning to her project.
“I’m really hoping it provides readers with the same strength that really held me up during a low point,” Schreiber said.
And the book seems to be bringing some light to the darkness experienced by those in the Jewish community who could benefit the most, Schreiber said.
One unnamed person featured in the book was sitting shiva (the Jewish mourning period) with a few families on his block and told Schreiber, “I read your book this weekend, and it just gave me such a strength that I needed.”
‘Combat hate and lead with love’
Schreiber has used her Instagram page and now the book as a creative expression to bring hope to the world. She trusts the book will show the Jewish community that “you’re not alone.”
“I’m hoping there’s a little bit of strength just knowing that we’re all dealing with it.”
Many of the stories featured in the book are displays of regular people showcasing their advocacy.
“We all have our own way of doing something positive and significant to combat hate and lead with love, and everybody has it in their own voice and style,” Schreiber explained. “It’s such an important component because we can’t exist without the wonderful love we have of our friends, neighbors and supporters.
“It helps you to see what people risk and what people do, and I think that’s such an important part of how the world goes around.”
Forman said to get through tough times, it’s important to “look for those community heroes, those people who have got through in the past and who inspire us to continue going today.”
“It’s not just about people learning about the sadness, but also taking inspiration of how they can build a better life when going through such hard times and how things will get better, because the world, especially now, so often seems so dark,” he continued. “But my great-grandmother always used to say that better times, better days will come.”
And while the Humans of Judaism Instagram page is consistently sharing uplifting stories, sometimes it’s beneficial to get off social media and put the screens away — especially when hateful comments seem to be never-ending, Schreiber suggested.
“Have this in print, have it proudly in your home,” she said of the book, out in time for Hanukkah. “I find it to be just like a family photo album. There’s no my story. It’s our story.”
English (US)