Goodbye to a survivor
(Photo by Steve Sisney, THE OKLAHOMAN) Oklahoma lost a living treasure today with the death of Holocaust survivor Manya Kornblit of Ponca City.
I first met Manya Kornblit in 2005, when I interviewed her for a story about the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Her sweet and gentle spirit transcended the horrors of what happened to her in that death camp. She spoke of going without food and watching as Nazis dragged her friends and family off to be killed. In a no-nonsense manner, she volunteered to show me her arm, where her Nazi captors had imprinted the letters KL, representing the German words for concentration camp.
Kornblit, 83, survived five concentration camps while nine of her family members perished. She told me that when she was freed by Russians, she was 21, 5 foot 1 and weighed 67 pounds.
It was one of the highlights of my reporting career, an honor, to meet her and her husband, Major, and hear first-hand how they triumphed and survived despite incredible odds.
Members of the Oklahoma Jewish community are in mourning, said Cathy Pettyjohn-Russell, director of Holocaust Education and Community Resources for the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma City.
“We’re losing eyewitness testimony to history. That’s why it’s so important that we have our remembrance ceremonies,” Pettyjohn-Russell said.
She referred to the annual ceremony and traditional candle lighting to commemorate the 6 million Jews and 5 million additional victims who were murdered by the Nazis.
This year’s Holocaust remembrance program is 2 p.m. May 4 at Stage Center, 400 W Sheridan Ave., with Israeli Holocaust survivor Eliezer Ayalon as guest speaker.
Pettyjohn-Russell said Manya Kornblit had been a regular attendee at the remembrance program and her presence will be missed.
Kornblit is survived by her beloved husband of 63 years, Meyer; two sons, Sammy and Michael; two daughters-in-law, Diane and Joan; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; and her brother, Chaim of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, tax-deductible contributions be made to the Respect Diversity Foundation (created by Kornblit’s son Michael and her daughter-in-law Joan), 2808 W Lexington Way, Edmond, 73012.
I’ll never forgot Kornblit’s last words to me, as we wrapped up our 2005 interview: “We remember. We were there. We are survivors.”
Golden tickets?
I’m a romantic at heart and Scott Williams of Crofton, Md., recently made my day.
According to a Capital News Story distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, Williams is frantically searching for someone who will give him two tickets to Thursday’s papal Mass at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.
Williams said his girlfriend, who is completing her theology degree at Mt. St. Mary’s University, wants to attend the Mass and see Pope Benedict XVI.
Williams wants to propose to her, either at the Mass, or present them to her during his proposal beforehand — the wire story wasn’t clear about that.
One thing is clear – those papal Mass tickets are hot items.
Here’s the thing: It’s wrong to sell such tickets, according to the Archdiocese of Washington.
A spokesman for the archdiocese is quoted as saying a Roman Catholic Church Mass is considered a sacrament, and scalping the tickets (which were free, but in limited supply) is equivalent to selling a sacrament, which is forbidden according to church law.
This has not stopped some folks from trying to sell the tickets, though.
As of April 11, there were 28 “tickets wanted” posts in the Washington section of classified ad Web site Craigslist, with one post offering to sell, according to the Capital News Service story. The story went on to say that the Archdiocese of Washington had the site remove about 20 posts selling the tickets or passes.
Anyway, I’ll be curious about Williams and his proposal plans. Interestingly enough, Williams doesn’t want to buy the tickets since that’s wrong. He is proposing an in-kind exchange. He has information technology skills and is offering to fix a computer for someone who might want to give him two tickets to the Mass. Or he’ll even clean someone’s house.
People who want to help him are probably going to proceed with caution, according to the wire story. You see the tickets are the nontransferable property of the archdiocese and there is a designated process for assigning “unneeded” tickets.
The archdiocese spokeswoman said each ticket is seat-specific and bar coded so officials should be able to track who is supposed to be sitting in any given section. If archdiocese official see a seat or section number on sale, they can cancel that ticket or flag a row for monitering, the wire story said.
Imagine being pinpointed as an illegal ticket holder at the papal Mass –beyond embarrassing.
The spokeswoman said 200,000 people applied for 46,000 passes and there are 10,000 people on the waiting list.
Romantic though he may be, Williams may wait in vain for these golden tickets.
Park of Hope
On Saturday, more than 50 volunteers from LifeChurch.tv, Crossings Community Church and the WISH program at the University of Central Oklahoma will converge on Hope Crossing, Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity’s first-ever neighborhood of Habitat homes at NE 83 and Kelley.
The volunteers are to help assemble a 2.2- acre park in the neighborhood.
The new park area is to be named Brown Park and will include an all-purpose playing field with a baseball backstop, walking paths, exercise workout stations and trees. Picnic tables, benches, swings and a jungle are also be a part of the neighborhood park.
Habitat for Humanity leaders said the park is being funded through a $75,000 donation from the Brown family, Dr. William R. and Jane Brown; Steve and Dr. Becki Brown Seay; and H. Blanton Brown and Dr. Faith Phillips, in honor of their parents, Col. William Ray Brown Sr. and Helen Lincoln Brown.
Organizers said the Margaret Annis Boys Trust contributed $10,000 for the purchase of trees for the park.
They said the park will be a much-cherished addition to the new neighborhood, which is to become home to more than 200 families.
