A Beautiful and Unexpected Gift

As the author of the book: Auschwitz #34207 The Joe Rubinstein Story, about a remarkable Holocaust survivor, one of the greatest and unexpected blessings in all this has been meeting so many people from around the world, including the many heartfelt letters and emails we receive from people far and near, writing to share the ways Joe’s story has touched, changed and impacted their lives. 

Joe will be 101 this fall, and each letter is a beautiful gift to this wonderful man.

A recent surprise was the inquiry from Peter Siebers of Koeln / Cologne (Germany). Peter is an expert on Auschwitz and is the author of the book: Death Factory Auschwitz. Topography and Everyday Life in a Concentration and Extermination Camp (released in 2016 in German, English, and Polish).

Peter wrote asking for permission to include some of the chapters of Joe's book into his upcoming book: Auschwitz 1940-1945. We could not have been more pleased and honored, doubly so, when Peter mailed a drawing he created depicting Joe's identical twin brother, Chaim. The portrait is to be included in Peter's book. It is a bittersweet gift, for Chaim was murdered at the Treblinka death camp in 1942 when the Radom, Poland ghettos were liquidated. Along with Chaim, Joe's entire family, including his widowed mother and his three other siblings were believed to have perished there. Joe was taken from the Radom, Poland ghetto when he was 20 years old and before it was "liquidated."

Until Joe shared his story with me, he had not told anyone of his experiences in several of the most notorious concentration camps, including nearly 2 1/2 years at Birkenau/Auschwitz because he did not believe anything good could come from doing so. Each letter we receive from readers is a wonderful affirmation that good can come from the darkest of times. And Joe’s times during the war were about as dark as they come.

Despite having lost nearly everything a person can lose, Joe went on to live an extraordinary and joy-filled life. He met the love of his life after the war in Germany of all places. Irene and Joe have now been married 73 years! In addition to the beautiful family they created, Joe went on, after the war, to become one of the leading shoe designers in the world.

Since the book was translated into German, we've received many heartfelt letters from Germany. Some of the people writing are young…some are old…and most are somewhere in the middle. After reading the book, some people write to offer to help in the search of finding more photos of Joe’s family. Joe told me often while I was interviewing him that he would give his life for one photo of his family. We had researchers around the world looking for photos. Five months after the book’s release in 2015, photos of Joe’s mother, his older brother Dawid, and Joe’s identical twin Chaim were located from the ID cards that were completed when they were forced into the Radom Ghetto. Joe said through his tears when saw those faces for the first time since the early 1940’s that it was the greatest gift of his life. For Joe, it was the only tangible possession he has of his past.

That was until the gift drawing of Chaim from Peter.

Peter's works are periodically on display at Auschwitz and can be currently seen at the Auschwitz exhibition at the Union Station in Kansas City. The exhibit was designed by Dr. Jahn van Pelt (Toronto / New York) and Luis Ferreiro (Bilbao, Spain), both friends of Peter.

On a recent tour of the exhibition, I was able to find Peter’s drawing of the grounds/layout of Auschwitz. I encourage anyone traveling to the Kanas City area in the next several months to make plans to visit the exhibit. It is so powerful and so well done! Despite the large number of people also touring the exhibit, you could have heard a pin drop. I was so glad to see the reverence displayed by everyone there. It was an emotional tour. The theme to the exhibition is “Not long ago. Not far away.” Every time I speak with Joe I think the same. It is heartbreaking to know what this kindest, gentlest of souls experienced during the Holocaust. It is unfathomable.

Like Joe, I'm so grateful to every person who takes the time to reach out to us. It means more than we can say. And a very special thanks to Peter Siebers for sharing your talent with us in the sketch of Joe’s beloved brother. We are grateful beyond words.

Drawing by Peter Siebers of Chaim (identical twin of Holocaust survivor Joe Rubinstein). Chaim is believed to have perished at the Treblinka Death camp 1942.

Auschwitz 1 Drawing by Peter Siebers, on display at the Auschwitz Exhibit Union Station, Kansas City 2021

Holocaust survivor Joe Rubinstein holding long-lost photos of his mom, his older brother Dawid (lower left), and Joe’s identical twin Chaim. (All three were believed to have perished at the Treblinka Death camp in 1942.) Joe is still searching for photos of his younger brother Abram and younger sister Laja. (Photo by Crystal Merrill 2019.)