“I was 11 years old when I returned to school, my classmates were two to three years younger. They bullied me as they did not understand what had happened to me and why I had to learn everything again.”,
After being head hunted by an Italian engineering company at the age of 24, Tomi Reichental began his new life in Ireland. Now he shares his story.
It was 1940, at the age of nine, when Tomi Reichental was deported to Bergen Belsen. He was born in a small village in Slovakia to Jewish parents. Life was idyllic, as his father, a well-respected farmer was able to provide a comfortable life for his family.
Recalling his memory, he remembers that his childhood was sheltered and safe. All of their dealings in life, whether it be doctor visits or legal matters, revolved in their Jewish community. As Jews were not allowed to work in all professions, the Jewish community thrived and supported each other making each other succeed.
This led to jealousy and rivalry with some of the Slovakian people. As he grew up, surrounded by his family, Tomi was sheltered from the growing persecution in the late 1930´s and early 1940´s. This changed as the Slovakian government, under leadership of Jozef Tisco, instated by the German government, introduced new laws that restricted the lives of all Slovakian Jews, removing them from public and governmental positions.
As restrictions were placed, forbidding Jews from attending national schools, parks and other public places, restrictions were also placed on the amounts of money they were allowed to withdraw from their bank accounts.
The government slowly but surely sympathized with the Nazi regime, stripping the Jews of their Slovakian nationality and forcing them to wear a yellow Star of David.
The main outlet and platform that was used to further new agendas came straight from the pulpits of Roman-Catholic churches.
The first wave of deportations started in March 1942 and lasted until October 1942. And for six months, almost all Slovakian Jews were deported to concentration camps, mainly Auschwitz, where they were gassed and burned.
It is estimated that only 25000 Slovakian Jews survived the Holocaust, among them Tomi, his brother, mother, aunt and father. All other 35 family members perished.
While trying everything in their power to stop the deportation of Jewish people, the Jewish community began to collect money with which they were able to bribe some of the Slovakian officials who were hired by the Nazis to find and arrest Jews. As not all the Slovakians supported the government under Tisco, the Jewish community found some support in their resistance. This ended once the Gestapo invaded Slovakia.
As the second deportation wave began in August 1944, Reichental´s parents believed it was best to leave their village and take on new identities, while Tomi´s father stayed behind to work the farm and provide for his wife and children. Their escape was supported by a priest who provided papers as they had to leave their names behind.
And for a few weeks all was well, but this changed as Tomi´s father, betrayed by a police guard that knew the family very well, arrested him.
“My father and two other men were able to jump off the train that would have brought them to Auschwitz.”
Not knowing whether they would see him again, their own safety was in danger as police officers questioned Tomi and his brother at a small shop. Wearing their Gestapo uniform, the police offices began intimidating the boys, demanding of them to confess their Jewish identity.
Both children denied, knowing very well that their life was in danger, but confessed as the officers did not stop their interrogation. At the time Tomi was only nine and his brother thirteen.
“My brother was always very protective of me. And once he saw that they began to hit me, he confessed.”
As both admitted their identity, they were brought down to the Gestapo headquarters, where they met the rest of their arrest family, among them their mother and grandmother.
After the selection by one of the Gestapo officers, the group was split into two groups, of which some were deported to Sachsen-Anhalt and the rest to Bergen Belsen.
And on November 2nd 1944, Tomi, his brother, mother, aunt and grandmother boarded the train that would have brought them on November 9th 1944 to Bergen Belsen.
Life in Bergen Belsen was cruel. The inhuman conditions the inmates were exposed to, have to this day, been part of his life. Remembering the stain and smell of the dead corpses lying around the camp, Tomi recalls, that this was a condition all inmates had no other choice but to accept.
“We were playing, eating and living around the dead bodies. The smell was terrible.” He recalls.
Their daily provision was scarce as the SS officers provided three meals a day which contained, two slices of bread in the morning with a cup of coffee, a soup during lunch and two slices of bread in the evenings.
Without any personal hygiene, the inmates suffered of Typhus which was carried by lice and other insects that infiltered the camp, causing a surge in deaths.
By April 15th 1945, the British liberated the camp and the Red Cross took care of all the inmates.
Eventually they were able to leave and return to their village, as they received message by Tomi´s father, that he was waiting for them at their home.
To their great surprise, their home had not been demolished as one of the SS officers had resided there.
As they returned to their village, Tomi returned to school, having lost his basic education he had to restart and learn everything from scratch,
“I was 11 years old when I returned to school, my classmates were two to three years younger. They bullied me as they did not understand what had happened to me and why I had to learn everything again from the beginning.” he recalls.
Unable to forget their past experience, the Reichental´s decided to immigrate to Israel in February 1949 alongside other Holocaust survivors and start over.
Now, over 75 years after Bergen Belsen was liberated, Reichental is inviated to many places to share his story and the story of so many others that never had the chance to live out their lives.
“Holocaust did not start with gas chambers, it started with whispers and abuse”, according to Reichental during a speech at UCD in 2015. “Don´t be a bystander to bullying, get involved and tell them it is wrong. When it was happening to us, nobody stood up for us.”
He has accomplished much in life, running his own business, writing books, being married and taking care of his three sons. The aftermath of the Holocaust did not break him, but he chose to remain a living witness to the horrific result of silence to bullying, discrimination and abuse.
By Adina Sarah Abraham
Adina Sarah Abraham 