Growing up with two parents who survived the horrors of the Holocaust was difficult for Dr. William Reszelbach.
Though he was born after the traumatic events, the scars his parents received transferred to him.
“They were both damaged people,” he said.
In an attempt to share about what his parents experienced during some of their darkest days, Reszelbach, who lives in New York,travels around the country giving in-person presentations and hosting virtual Zoom presentations for the public.
On Tuesday, The Villages Public Library at Belvedere hosted the “Child of the Holocaust” as a virtual presentation, giving Reszelbach the chance to share his story with Villagers.“My mothers experiences left her with a constant feeling of despair and paranoia that weighed on her for her entire life,” Reszelbach said on his website.
His mother, Gussie Kamelhar, was born into a family that was less fortunate. She stayed hidden for three years living underground before the Holocaust ended and she was able to live freely. By that time, she had married while in hiding and had one son.
Once free, Kamelhar and her first husband attempted to get their family land back. Concerned about the safety of her son, she took him to a displaced persons camp.
Her husband was shot and killed by Nazi soldiers who wanted to keep the land. The violent act was enough to make Kamelhar abandon her efforts to retrieve the land and instead she fled to retrieve her son before venturing to safety.
His father, Charles Reszelbach, was born in Poland into a wealthy family with several brothers and sisters; however, the Holocaust also changed his life.
Charles was sent to four different concentration camps and when he was freed, he weighed 75 pounds at 35 years old.
William’s parents later met each other at a displaced persons camp and got married prior to coming to the United States in 1949.
“(The experience) left my father emotionally distant and filled with fear,” William said. “For the remainder of my father’s life, he suffered with a severe phobia of police and anyone else in uniform with long black boots. Additionally, he suffered with night terrors.”
During the presentation, William focused on answering several questions to give insight on what it is like to be a child of holocaust survivors.
Some of the questions included “What are the scars that plague the parents or children, what is the work ethic of the parents of survivors and what are the integrated family dynamics?”
He said it was important and his duty to have those conversations to educate others about the lessons he learned as a boy.
One lesson was to be happy. He said he intentionally tries to incorporate more happy moments into his life simply by doing what he enjoys and believes in.
“I try very hard to laugh and learn about myself,” he said.
William said he does not remember seeing his father laugh or cry.
“When you cry in a concentration camp, they beat you,” he said. “When you laugh, they killed you. To him, having trouble with friends, school, girls — to him that was nonsense. School was what was important.”
He said he worked hard to become successful to impress his father.
“They were both illiterate with writing English, so growing up, education was very important,” William explained.
Throughout his life, William worked to fight against the severe prejudice and discrimination of all.
He even participated in Civil Rights marches against the wishes of his father during the 1960s.
“People in the U.S. fought back against prejudice,” he said. “They didn’t do that in Poland — in the U.K. They didn’t protest against their injustices. It’s important to do that.” He said he wants his guests to take home from the lectures the lesson of how important it is to fight.
“The public really didn’t know what steps took places before the height of the holocaust,” he said. “When I look around I see the degradation of society. There’s less compassion.”
He said it reminds me of Germany before the Holocaust, not after.
“When good people do nothing, bad things happen,” he said.
For more information about Williams’s presentations, visit his website sounds
oftheholocaust.com or his Facebook page by searching “Dr. William Reszelbach — Child of the Holocaust Lecture Series.”
Staff writer Brea Jones can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5414, or brea.jones@thevillagesmedia.com.
