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.”
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Comments
Thank you for posting this. I come from Ponca City myself and we are proud to have had her in our city. Her unique and amazing story can be read in the book written by her son entitled ‘Until We Meet Again”. It is truly one of those books you read that changes your life and your perspective– for the better. Manya will always be remembered for the amazing person she truly is.
Shea Newport
Ponca City ,OK
My heartfelt grief goes out to all the members of the Korenblit family. I’ve been honored these past few years to have Michael speak to my 8th grade students about the horrors of the Holocaust. However, what comes through the strongest is the incredible bond of love between Manya and Meyer. Through that love, they taught their children to believe in tolerance and respect for all people. Their children carry forth that message in the hopes that atrocities, such as the Holocaust, will never happen again.
Anne-Marie Oestriecher
Oklahoma City
What a wonderful peice of history we have in the survivors of the Death and labor camps of World War ll. I have enjoyed listening and reading about the experiences of these survivors. They are all unique in their own way and should be shared with the rest of the world. Maybe we can learn something from these people that have suvived the most horrific of all human conditions. The Holocaust was a time in history that we should learn from so that it could never be repeated again. I believe that preserving the experiences in any way possible would be a valuable asset to future generations after all the survivors have gone.
I had read the story about Manya’s and Meyer’s life in the Holocaust. I was shocked to know what had happened to them but so amazed that they both survived and so in love. I have always been so interested in History and especially the Holocaust and I’m only 14. I would like to speak w/ somebody about Auschwitz. I need information and I know that Manya survived the camp.
There are more survivors in OKC. There is an 85 year old living in the Baptist Retirement Center off Council and NW HWY who also survived the Holocaust. As an orphan, she was forced into various labor camps when the Germans invaded Poland. After several escapes and assaulting and SS Officer she was put into the camp at Ravensbruck. Unlike Mrs. Korenblit she and 4 other girls chose not to be liberated by the Russians and started an odyssey across Germany in search of the the British and American front lines. Only three girls made it. I know this remarkable lady because she is my Mother. She has always been reluctant to talk about this part of her life. She has the scar on her arm where the number used to be and said it was burned off by an iron. I have the documentation with her ID number. She did not wear a star of david but rather a triangle with a “P” for Political Prisoner. Because of her reluctance to talk her failing hearing and eyesight I still have only bits and peices of that part of her life. But there is a whole other part of the Holocaust that seldom gets told because the Jews have made it their cause much to the exclusion of the rest of the survivors. When my Mother showed up at the British lines she was malnurished had Typhus and the Officer in charge couldn’t beleive she was still alive. But she is a survivor. The rest of her life is just as much a story of survival. Unlike many religious prisoners she never asked or received any compensation for her internment. Her childhood and any chance for an education was stolen from her. Still she raised three boys by herself and to this day refuses help values her freedom and independence. She is a survivor and I’m very proud of her.
Bob Pirog,
Yukon, OK