“They Didn’t Die For This To Get Worse”
A woman was shot for supporting the LGBTQ Community. I’m not sure why someone had to be so heartless and do that?
But this is just an average day in the world now.
I think it’s hard, as a Jewish woman to sit by and watch this happen. I am an ally for the LGBTQ Community and I’m not ashamed to say it. I am not the granddaughter of survivors, but I am the granddaughter of a man who taught me that I would indeed have to fight for human rights, eventually. The problem is, that I am fighting them now, and I’m trying to make sure what happened to 1.5 Million Jewish teens and children, doesn’t happen to anyone else, not to the Trans kids, not to the Indigenous kids, or anyone. It’s hard when I have to sit and compare this to what happened to them, because in my heart, it’s the bad people who are trying to eradicate them.
My heart can only take so much. As a Holocaust Youth and Diary historian, I take the lives of these kids very seriously.
Donia Sorger (Serger) is among the kids/teens I study. She was born in Obertyn, Poland, in 1922. The hardest thing to study about Donia is that she was “buried alive”- literally buried alive. What does this mean? Well, when she and her beautiful sister, Ester were being killed- they were both shot at. Ester died first, and since they were holding each other, they fell into the pit that they were to buried in, and unfortunately, Donia, made the drastic mistake of telling the Nazis she was still alive and not to bury her. She pleaded with them. But, instead of listening to her pleads, the Nazis buried her, and she suffocated on the dirt and the pressure of the dirt.
She was 21 when she died. Ester was only 18.
Fast forward to 2023, the LGBTQ Youth are at risk and if you support them being at risk or stay silent, you’re part of the problem.
“It’s not me.”
“It’s not my problem.”
“It’s not my child.”
“My teenager is straight and would never do this!”
“It’s such a fad!”
“It’s really ruining the world”
These are things I’ve heard people say about it.
I wish I could tell them that YES it is your problem, and YES, your child or teen could identify as L-G-B-T-Or Q.
The worst thing about it is that there are evangelicals, who will try to deem them going to hell, because they are not what God intended them to be.
Here’s my thought, being a Reform Jewish woman:
God, didn’t give you specifics on who could be here and who couldn’t be. GOD did not put in the bible that being Gay was a sin, THOUGH you like to think it is, because of the Goddamn 1946 translation on it- being Gay is normal! It’s fine. It’s just a preference on who you love. Being Trans, is a beautiful thing!
Parents, you always tell your children to “Be who you want to be”- I know I was told that. If your child thinks that they were born in the wrong body, do your job and love them. Do your job as a parent and help them. Don’t write their obituaries because you’re so wrapped up in homophobia or transphobia. It’s not cute and believe me, it’s not being a good parent. My parents, though they sometimes come across as homophobic, I am so different from that. I am Jewish woman who is willing to risk her life for others, in the name of Tomas Kulka or Donia Sorger (Serger). I WILL NOT STAND for what happened to Donia or any of those kids, HAPPEN TO ANYONE ELSE.
The worst thing is, we get this rhetoric about the LGBTQ community, and we have to “protect the kids”. If I hear that one more goddamn time, I will scream. It was never about “protecting the kids”. It’s not. If it were, we’d be helping EVERY CHILD. Instead, all we’re doing, is creating hate, and we’re not helping them. We’re just hindering them.
Being LGBTQ is not a sin and it’s not an abomination. Please stop thinking it is, cause this Jewish woman is exhausted hearing all these hurtful and heartbreaking stories about ordinary people get hurt because of it.
As far as banning the LGBTQ books or banning Anne Frank from schools, has nothing to do with “Protecting the kids”. That’s utter shit, and you know it. If you truly believe it, than you have fallen for the charade. Learning about Anne Frank, is not going to “Damage” your child, what she is going to do, is help your child be more accepting and loving. Anne Frank, has been banned for years, so it was no surprise to see her book under the “Banned book” list for Houston ISD.
My grandpa used to tell me why she was banned:
“It’s because they are afraid of her.” I used to ask why people are so afraid of a 15- year-old Jewish woman?
“SHE HAS POWER AND THEY KNOW IT!”
The truth is, she does. She has a lot of power, and yet, even though she’s been dead for the past 80 years, she still does. It’s amazing, when people try to “ban” her, that doesn’t mean that she won’t find people. She’ll always find a way, to get into people’s hearts.
In 1945, 6 Million Jews were murdered. Hardly anyone did anything to stop it, and if they did, they were killed.
In 2023, there have been so many hate crimes and so many deaths of LGBTQ Youth than ever before.
The thing that most people aren’t aware of , is that those 1.5 Million Jewish teens and children- who were murdered or who survived, know what’s happening. THEY KNOW. They see it! The survivors, who were targeted as children, are trying to wrap their heads around why the LGBTQ Youth are being targets now? I am wondering the same thing.
So many anti-trans or anti-LGBTQ bills and laws have been introuduced and passed in many states, and it’s like the Jewish people had the laws passed against them. It’s no different. Did these lawmakers see what happened to us Jews and thought it was a good idea? It’s not ok? They’re trying to close libraries and trying to take out LGBTQ books or anyhting that has to with…you know..RIGHTS from libraries. Any good ideas that we might have, will get banned. When you want to help someone, you get killed for it.
As I’ve written in my own diary: “ It needs to stop! The hatred!” I have been documenting all the hatred against the LGBTQ community since it first became known. It’s hard to watch and I won’t stand by and let it happen.
Flordia, has become a Nazi state and I cannot believe that so many people are agreeing to it. It’s disgusting.
Why is being hateful so powerful now? We have people, like me, who are pissed and who are ready to fight and ready to “bite” those lawmakers or people who want to destroy a beautiful group of people. It’s not different than what we went through. The only difference is, that you have a lot of organizations that are ready, locked and loaded to help, unlike like what we had, which was pretty much — nothing.
We have wonderful organizations like the Trevor Project, or The Human Rights Campagin, who are fighting tirelessly. I am just a Jewish woman, what can I do?
I am an ordinary Jewish woman, who talks about dead kids and teens a lot at a Holocaust Museum. That’s what I do.
I am a Jewish woman who remembers the lives of Jewish teens and children who were murdered. The problem is, that many of these Jewish teens and children, who were murdered, see everything that’s happening and they can’t believe that another generation of Youth would be at risk. Did we learn nothing from their deaths? I guess we didn’t?
One of the teens that I wish I could bring up more often, is Ruth Maier. She was queer and I loved that. When I first read her diary last year in October, I felt like she came into my life at a time when I needed her most. I’m not queer, or gay or anything like, but I think she gave me a purpose to fight for other teens and children, that need it most. I don’t get to bring her up much because I don’t know what groups (particularly schools) would allow it. But I have her diary there, on display, as I usually do, so she is noticed too. I get questions about her, every now and then, but I love talking about her. She was beautiful and yet, she died, not because she was Queer, but because she was Jewish. That’s all, nothing more, nothing less.
It hurts me to know that these teens and children were murdered, not because they were bad people, it’s because they were Jewish, that’s it.
Women were sterilized so they wouldn’t “pass on their crime”. Their crime? Being Jewish. Now, Trans Youth can’t get the healthcare they need. America’s healthcare already sucks, and now, they want to limit on who can get it? You’re joking right? This is because politicians think that it’s “child abuse” that trans teens want to transition. No. It’s not. It’s not child abuse. It’s getting them the health care that they need.
Trans women, are Women. Trans men, are Men. Stop thinking they’re not.
“We didn’t have trans or gay people in my day!”
YOU DID. You just didn’t know how to handle it. You made them stay “in the closet.” You made laws saying that they were wrong or that they’d be jailed for being themselves. It’s amazing that drag has become such a target as well. We’ve had drag all our lives, and we didn’t say anything about it. They are NOT GROOMERS, though you may think they are, and Drag Queen story hour, is NOT GOING TO HARM YOUR CHILDREN. They get to see what amazing performers these people are, and they don’t want to hurt your kids, or make them gay, or anything. They just want to entertain. That’s it.
Why make them out to be what they’re not? Why? Why be hateful? It is much easier to hate people different than you? Apparently so. It was then and it’s certianly now.
I think when we start “banning” things, it only make the students or Youth want them more. Banning the Holocaust, only causes them to have more curiosity. As for me, I was rasied with the Holocaust always being talked about, it was not hidden- and I’m grateful for that. I was raised where me wearing my Star of David was something I was never ashamed of, and I’m still that way. I wear it. I wear a Chai as well, because I was given that Chai by Moshe Flinker (1926–1945)’s nephew and I wear in honor of him. I know these kids are angry and a lot of these Trans Youth are terrified. I had one Trans student ask me if Anne Frank would have hated them. I told them, “Anne Frank LOVES YOU. She would NEVER HATE YOU. She’s angry, that you’re people are being mistreated. I know she is! She’s so upset right now! She’s trying to make sure she can wrap you in love! I know that!” The Trans Youth asked me why I wear my “Love Wins” pin and I said, “ I wear it for Ruth Maier. I wear it for Gad Beck. I wear it for Manfred Lewin! I wear it for them and for all of you! Because, in the end, LOVE DOES WIN! We just have to realize it!”
When I discuss about the Jewish teens and children to some of the Trans or LGBTQ Youth that come through the museum, I always talk about Manfred Lewin and Gad Beck and how they were in love and how even then, it was forbidden to be gay and Jewish, but for them, they were both Jewish and Gay. Gad Beck was an amazing man, and he tried to save Manfred Lewin from being deported. He wanted his lover with him. He loved him so much and he did everything, even stealing a Nazi Youth uniform and pretending to be that, so he could pull Manfred from the group that were being ready to be deported. Manfred told Gad, that he loved him, but he loved his family more. Manfred was murdered and I really don’t think Gad really loved again, but he did eventually find love, but I think, Manfred was his true love and I don’t think you get over the fact that he was murdered.
With Gad, I like to give them his book, which is amazing by the way, but it could be banned as well, due to it being about gay men. Stupid right? Books being banned? What? Did we enter 1933 Nazi Germany? Sometimes I feel like we never really learned anything from our Jewish friends who were killed during the Holocaust, but I feel like because we are doing our best to make sure that what happened to them, won’t happen here, in the United States, we bring them up.
What can we do to support our LGBTQ friends? Please let me know, so we can help them know that they are LOVED. They are WORTH IT. Please know that.
“They didn’t die for this to get worse” as I was told by my grandpa years ago. I knew who he was referring to.
How many more people have to die before we stop the bad people from hurting someone because of who they support? Hopefully, no one else.
I leave with you this quote:
“Those who deny Auschwitz, would do it again!”
Well, the same applies now. It does.
BE KIND. LOVE OTHERS AND FOR GOD SAKE, SUPPORT EVERYONE.
