Recognizing an unpayable debt

As Cedarhurst resident Dr. Leon Gersten entered the synagogue at Rambam Mesivta High School in Lawrence on Tuesday morning with Czeslaw Polziec of Poland, whose family saved his life during the Holocaust, they were greeted by a standing ovation from the students.

In 1942, the Polziec family hid Gersten, his mother, aunt, uncle and cousin from the Nazis. “My mother spoke Polish fluently and asked if the Polziecs if they could hide us and they agreed to take us in, ultimately risking their lives to save us,” Gersten said. “We disguised ourselves as Polish peasants and stayed in hiding for two years. If it weren’t for the Polziec family, we wouldn’t have survived and none of my descendents would be alive either.”

Gersten’s son, Rabbi Yonasan Gersten of Memphis, Tenn. reached out to the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, a Manhattan-based organization that supports more than 600 non-Jews who rescued Jews during the Holocaust, to see if they could reunite his father with a member of the Polziec family. “I’m very satisfied for the entire family that we had the opportunity to reconnect and recognize the appreciation we have for their family,” Rabbi Gersten said.

On Nov. 27, Gersten and Polziec were reunited at John F. Kennedy Airport. “It was an emotional linkage as I was 10 when we were liberated,” Gersten said. “It was the opportunity to reconnect to the past. I’m only alive because of the Polziecs decision to allow us to hide there.”

“It’s a meaningful time after so many years,” Polziec said. “We have a lot in common and we’re building a relationship. It’s been wonderful spending time together during Hanukkah.”

Rambam sophomore Yoni Nirenberg said Gersten and Polziec’s story is the first tale of survival during the Holocaust that he’s heard in-person. “It’s very inspiring and it’s one of the stories that tells you a side you don’t hear very often — the good side,” he said. “Each survivor’s story inspires you in some way and you never know what can happen when you do a good deed.”

Rabbi Gersten said his family has a debt to the Polziec family that will never be repaid. “We cannot repay the debt, but we can recognize it,” he said to students. “Each of us has the free will and capacity to do what’s right under the most difficult circumstances and not follow the crowd. There are now 60 Gersten descendents because of what the Polziec family did. My father is a symbol of all those who were helped and Mr. Polziec is a symbol of the rescuers who risked their lives to do the right thing.”

Elly Marcus, a sophomore, was inspired. “It’s a moving story to hear about your own people being saved by Polish people; I don’t know if I’d be able to do that and we’ll be in their debt forever,” he said. “No matter what religion you are, we should always help each other because we’re all the same.”