Marguerite Schanzer of Long Branch also joined the Jewish Federation of Monmouth County’s 60th anniversary mission to Israel.
May 06, 2008
Three Monmouth County residents have returned from an emotion-filled trip to the Jewish state.
Ruth and Jack Appel of Marlboro and Marguerite Schanzer of Long Branch participated in the Jewish Federation of Monmouth County’s 60th anniversary mission to Israel, which took place from March 30 to April 7. It was the first trip to the Jewish homeland for the Appels, while Schanzer, who was accompanied by her daughter, Dr. Harriet Schanzer of Richmond, Va., made her eighth visit.
“Our four daughters had already been there,” said Jack Appel. “The 60th anniversary of the Jewish state seemed like the perfect time for us to go there. The time was right and it was our turn.”
The Appels both grew up in New York and moved to Monmouth County in 1994. They are members of Marlboro Jewish Center/Congregation Ohev Shalom.
“My parents always enforced Jewish beliefs, Jewish pride, and the importance of Jewish education,” said Ruth Appel. “I also grew up hearing the phrase ‘next year in Jerusalem.’ It was part of my upbringing, and now I’ve been to that holy city.”
The concept of volunteerism also was strongly emphasized during her childhood.
“My parents said if you didn’t have much money, you could still give your time and volunteer for a good cause,” she said. “Along with this came the teaching of tzedaka — these teachings were a part of our everyday lives. As Jews, these were concepts that were embraced.”
The couple was deeply moved by the history of each place the group visited.
“I was seeing biblical history and history from more recent times,” said Jack Appel. “We toured throughout the country, but visits to the Golan Heights, kibbutzim, and, of course, Jerusalem, were particularly vivid. At the Western Wall, I saw people from all walks of life who seemed to care about each other.”
When the travel group arrived at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial, the mood grew solemn.
“There was such a strong sense of remorse,” Ruth Appel said. “You couldn’t help thinking of what was lost to the world, and how much could have been contributed to society by those whose lives were snuffed out prematurely.”
For Schanzer, who came to the United States from France in 1948 and is a member of Congregation Brothers of Israel in Long Branch, the trip evoked memories of previous visits she had made with her husband, Bernard, a Holocaust survivor who died in 1999. Her own wartime experiences also resurfaced.
When the German army occupied France, Schanzer, her parents, and her younger brother stayed with a relative in Vichy for one year. In 1941, as persecution against the Jews was mounting, the family moved to Grenoble, which was closer to the Swiss border.
Ruth and Jack Appel of Marlboro participated in the Jewish Federation of Monmouth County’s 60th anniversary mission to Israel. Photos by Jill Huber
But when the Italian army arrived in Grenoble, the family feared for their continued safety.
“The Italian occupation army in the town of Grenoble did not actively persecute the Jews to the degree that was conducted by the German army,” she said. “However, they were no angels by any means, and a large number of Jews were deported to concentration camps. The Jews were not spared under the wartime regime of Benito Mussolini.”
On Christmas Eve in 1942, the border between Switzerland and France was not heavily guarded and the family crawled through a vineyard into Swiss territory. They stayed with family members in Zurich and returned to France when the war ended in 1945.
Meanwhile, her future husband, who eventually provided testimony to the Shoah Foundation in 1995, was hiding from the Nazis in Poland. On one occasion, he jumped from a cart that was headed to a deportation site. He dodged German bullets and found a series of hiding places until the 1945 liberation. Bernard Schanzer, who was the only member of his family who survived the Holocaust, came to the United States in 1947, and the couple was married in 1948.
Although Schanzer’s husband was tormented by his wartime experiences for the rest of his life, he found some comfort and feelings of security during their trips to Israel.
“Observing the atmosphere and resiliency of the Israeli people helped him,” she said. “He saw that life goes on, and is filled with joy and heartache for everyone.
“When Bernard and I were growing up in Europe, there was such a strong climate of hostility toward the Jewish people,” Schanzer continued. “Israel — a state of our own — offered a promise of change. Our emotions drew us back to Israel time after time.”
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