| | The next morning, August 1st, I went down to the Heat cafe where they were offering the buffet breakfast free to its hotel members. There were six rows of breakfast dishes: think a breakfast dish, it was probably there! It was a bit hard to decide, but pleasing to know I had many choices to choose from. I decided on a big one: scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, fruit and orange juice along with coffee. Some Deaf were there, but I noticed a big table of the DHI Conference committee, all Deaf Germans. They were preparing for the day and obvious early birds like me!
After a good breakfast, nearly all of us walked to Humboldt University which is a good four blocks away from the hotel. We entered the front doors, then out to the courtyard before going to the end of a C-shaped building, where they had an auditorium with a stage. Most of us sat down, and already there were five interpreters at work by standing up next to their country's Deaf people: England, Holland, Sweden, Finland and Japan. Gestuno and German interpreters were already on stage getting ready to work.
Mark Zaurov, being the chairman of the 6th Deaf History International conference, gave the opening speech. Basically he thanked the IGJAD (the International Deaf Jewish Association in Germany) for supporting the 6th DHI conference and numerous individuals as well. He also explained why he chose the focus of Deaf Jewish life between 1933 and 1945, since this is the first conference of its kind in Europe. He granted that there was a conference in Washington, D.C. in 1998, but it was still in its infancy - he hoped that this conference would bring the topic to a full term. He added that there were about 6,000 Deaf Jews who perished in the Holocaust - many were important Deaf members of the German Deaf community such as Paul Kroner. He showed film clips of such people. Zaurov also explained about the four Jewish Schools for the Deaf, ITA in short - two were located in Germany - Berlin and one other, as well as London and Budapest, Hungary. He wanted us to understand how German Deaf Jews and Deaf non-Jews parted ways in 1933, and he did not want this to happen again. He showed us a picture of the first Congress of Deaf Jews in Prague which took place in 1931, and the second Congress of Deaf Jews was to take place in Berlin in 1934 - but per Hitler's orders, it did not take place. He emphasized the importance of preserving this kind of Deaf History.
Zaurov then passed the floor to six speakers who welcomed us to Berlin and stressed the importance of this conference's theme - Deaf Jews. They were: the representative of the President of Humboldt University (who could not come), Dr. Ulrich Hase, Andreas Wankrum, Uwe Newmarker, Dr. Klaus B. Gunther and the current president of DHI Board: Odd-Inge Schroder.
The first of the day's eight speakers was a hearing German named Gunther List, who discussed how Deaf history fit into the framework of general history. He pointed out how Deaf history was not written because the Deaf world does not have a written language, like most cultures do. Written history has been the format for ages, so how to utilize Deaf /sign language history thus becomes very important. He felt that both hearing and Deaf researchers must work together in order to preserve this missing part from our history pages. He also stressed that hearing researchers must open their eyes to our minority, and that Deaf researchers must talk to Deaf families who have knowledge of their oral histories - talk about irony here, he said "oral" but I know he meant how Deaf families passed down their family history.
The second speaker was Newby Ely of Philadelphia, who was an avid history buff and had been researching the subject of Deaf Japanese-Americans who were incarcerated during World War 2. He first explained how this came about beautifully: when Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7th, 1941, President Roosevelt then went into working on a document out of fear that there were spies among Japanese-Americans. He added how silly this was, because there were German-Americans and Italian-Americans all over, too - why not them, too?! Good point, Newby. Anyhow, this document became an official Act on February 19th, 1942. Camps were constructed by March 1942, and those living on the coastal line of Western America were mostly taken to camps. Camp life was very hard, and Newby showed photos to show how hard it was for the Japanese-Americans. Because he loves history, he started wondering what about Deaf Japanese-Americans? He checked the Library of Congress and found 240 books on this subject, but only ONE had one reference to a Deaf Japanese-American, and this book was "Too Long Silent" by Roger Axelrod. Then he checked the records at National Archives and other places - much to his surprise, he found approximately 55 Deaf Japanese-Americans who were incarcerated in camps. He was able to interview some of them, and showed us a film clip of his interview with Ron Hirano of California, of whom many of us know. Hirano felt doubly discriminated against when he was allowed to go to his school for the Deaf and other Deaf Japanese-Americans could not - they looked at him like a traitor! Newby Ely hoped to research much more before he would turn all of this information into a book.
The third speaker was Gallaudet's Paul Johnston, a most delightful character, who discussed De'VIA and how art could be a part of history. Although I had seen this lecture before, he did this lecture more beautifully than he did at CSUN by using Gestuno and a different metaphor - this was so clever, especially making his message loud and clear to an audience of 25 countries! One could see how excited everyone was in the audience, responding to his metaphor: Johnston mimed as if he was a diver in the ocean, along with fishes swimming along....he finds a treasure, and then another and another. He does not ignore the broken ones. Why? Because they're a part of history! Therefore, when he collects Deaf art - he collects all kinds. Why? They're part of Deaf history! So clever! He then explained the Deaf Pie: how different slices of the Deaf Pie applied to different periods of Deaf history - such as Deafhood, Deafness as a medical issue and so forth. He hoped that we in the audience would find different Art by Deaf people, and perhaps from its art we can further examine what happened in Deaf history. He gave some good examples - David Bloch and Susan Dupor, among others.
The fourth speaker was Deaf Israeli artist, Uzi Bazgalo, who lives in Colorado now. He is one of the most heartfelt souls I've ever seen in a painter, and he truly applies his Deaf experience to his artwork. He presented some of his works, and gave us the reason behind each one. His reasons were truly enlightening and beautiful, and I wished that there was a video of him signing his reason on a DVD for each of his works! This was because when one sees his art, it is truly beautiful to look at. They become more beautiful WITH Uzi's reasons. My favorites were: the school for the Deaf in Jersualem, the Deaf Fish, and Princess Alice. When Uzi showed the school for the Deaf in Jerusalem, he explained that he went there as a child. It was an oral school for the Deaf. When he went back many, many years later he saw with shock that the school was not there anymore, it was completely gone! So, he decided to paint from memory his school for the Deaf, and I could truly empathize with him because my own oral school for the Deaf, Mary E. Bennett School for the Deaf in Los Angeles, was also demolished. I wished I could paint like him and remember what my school for the Deaf looked like! When he showed "The Deaf Fish" and told his story, I felt like a child again. He explained that when he was a child, he saw a fish gasping for breath. He told his mother that the fish was trying to communicate. His mother brushed him off. He felt like that fish that day, trying to communicate. When the fish was in the water, Uzi the child thought, the fish was Deaf and heard nothing. When the fish was out of the water, the fish "saw" and wanted to communicate by signing. Fascinating how he thought, eh? In his painting, the fish is trying to go out of the window. Finally, in the case of Princess Alice painting, Uzi explained how Princess Alice of Greece, who was Prince Philip of England's mother, was Deaf. She was also a hero to Jewish people because she saved Jews during the war. When Uzi was small, Princess Alice came to visit his school in Jerusalem. He thought she was amazing. He never forgot her, so painting her, along with his school and Deaf kids, was important to him. Oh yes - there was another great painting of which Uzi applied his Deaf experience to - the behavior of his family during the Jewish holiday times. This is what I meant by wishing there was a DVD of Uzi telling these stories!!! Maybe I ought to tell him that soon!!!
The fifth speaker was Rabbi Fred Friedman, a Deaf man from Maryland who probed the question: Deaf or Jewish first? Rabbi Fred Friedman looks like a typical rabbi with a black hat and a black suit at first, but then when he signs, he is quite a character full of thought-provoking questions. He talked about growing up Jewish and Deaf, and how his life growing up was mostly "Deaf" because he followed the schedule of being Deaf - sports on Saturdays, which was a no-no for Jews. However, as he got older he realized what he wanted to become - a Jewish rabbi. Over the years as a Jewish rabbi he pondered questions such as are you Jewish or Deaf first? He believed it was very possible to be both, not an impossible issue. He believed that it was important not to forget our Jewish past. Therefore, this question of are you Jewish or Deaf first becomes not important - what is more important, he said, is whether or not you are able to incorporate both in your life. He also discussed the Anti-Semitism and Deaf culture issues. He really made some of us think, especially those who do not practice Judaism at all.
The sixth speaker, more of a team consisting of Rabbi Douglas Goldhammer (hearing) and Ellen Roth (Deaf) both from Chicago, discussed how the Torah and Kabbalah have come to a place where the Deaf can study. They appropriately started with the history of the word heresh in the Talmud, which has had a negative connotation over the years, and only now rabbis know that the Deaf today is far different from the Deaf mentioned in the Talmud ages ago. This word "heresh" is almost like the term "deaf and dumb". Goldhammer was one of the few rabbis allowed to see the works of the late Abul Barakat, a 11th century philosopher who wrote three volumes to challenge the Talmud and even Aristotle. Barakat became late-deafened and saw the "light" of being Deaf. Barakat said, "If we want to know the truth, we don't need hearing. We don't need seeing, we don't even need Greek reasoning. We know the truth through intution." How cool is this statement?! Therefore, we Deaf Jews now have a "place" to study the Torah / Kabbalah. Ummm.
The seventh speaker was none other than our tour guide, Jochen Muhs, who told the story of Paul Kroner, one of Berlin's most powerful Deaf Jews before he was killed in 1943. Jochen Muhs was forceful and emotional during his lecture, which was about the life of Paul Kroner, a Deaf Jewish man who made dental fixtures. Kroner was instrumental in helping to establish the Deaf Sports association. Kroner was also important in many other things, including the Berlin Deaf Club. He showed a film clip of Kroner working on dental fixtures. At the end, Muhs demanded that the CISS or the Deaf Sports Association to pay respects to this man, because no one helped to save this man. Incredibly, a Deaf German representative who happened to be in the audience walked up after Muhs finished his lecture and said he would make sure that the Deaf Sports Association apologize and pay respects to Paul Kroner. Everyone cheered.
The last speaker of the day was a lively Deaf woman from Holland, named Marijke Scheffener, who gave us an incredible story behind Holland's first Deaf association that was established in 1884. The name of this association was Guyot, and they had their own building in Groningen. However, a Deaf Jewish man named M. J. van Ijzer decided to establish a Deaf club where everyone could come meet and socialize in that building. He said all Deaf were welcome, and many from Amsterdam would come even though the town of Groningen was not close! Because of the idea of this Deaf Jewish man, the Deaf community grew so strong. They would organize field trips to places like seeing the first plane in 1928, and a trip to the beach in 1938. Deaf Jews contributed money to this association, they also contributed ideas. Sadly in 1940 the Nazis confiscated this building, and the Deaf Jews disappeared - leaving the whole Deaf community in Holland quite confused and without transportation (apparently many Deaf Jews had their own cars, and when they disappeared - suddenly those without cars had to live without...). Deaf non-Jewish adults in Holland were quite scared and had to rely on information from mouth to mouth, did not trust anyone. Deaf identity withered, and it wasn't for years until 1975 when the Deaf in Holland finally had a new building. However, they do not want to forget the Deaf Jews who started all of this, and they want to renew what the Deaf Jews started so long ago.
Thus ended the day one of the 6th DHI conference, but this was only a warm-up of what was to come in the next few days. I did not realize how bad it was for Deaf Jews in Europe during the World War 2. What I did not realize was there were even worse stories lurking around the corner, waiting to leap at me.
In between speakers we had lunch upstairs, and many went outside for a smoke or fresh air. We were told that there would be a pantomime show at the Berlin Deaf Club later this evening. Because I felt overloaded with information, I opted for a quiet dinner and even had another bath. It felt wonderful, so wonderful that I fell fast asleep.
Postscript: If I make any mistakes about these lectures, please let me know! I will be glad to correct them immediately. It was hard enough jotting down notes while watching...I'm sure everyone knows this! Ta da.... |
