By Michael J. Weinstein
I met over 20 Holocaust Survivors, men and women, as a volunteer for the program Friendly Visiting for Holocaust Survivors run by the Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island and funded in part by the Claims Conference, The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, and the Mitzvah Man organization.
But I have not met someone like Herman Graulich, a Holocaust survivor who was born in Poland and survived Buchenwald Concentration Camp before starting a new life in America. Sadly, Herman passed away on July 12th, at age 101.
In my mind, Herman’s photo could be found in the dictionary under the definition of an “elder gentleman.” On visits to him since 2014, Herman always greeted me with a big smile and said, “it’s a real pleasure to see you.” He gave me many brachos, some in English, some in Yiddish, and maybe a few in Polish and while I did not always understand, I knew his words were pure and from his Jewish heart and soul.
The Torah tells us to avoid sadness and depression, and it was Herman who showed me the way. Through many conversations on subjects ranging from the Catskill Mountains, to davening at the Young Israel of Flatbush, his lunches at the Brookdale Senior Citizen Center of Agudath Israel, on Avenue I, the news, and politics, Herman, to me, had tremendous “inner strength” and always tried to see the good in people.
There were times when Herman expressed his disappointment with President Franklin Roosevelt because he did not do what was necessary to save many Jewish lives and he praised President Harry Truman for recognizing the State of Israel. He expressed a fondness of Ed Koch and Michael Bloomberg, two Jewish Mayors of New York City that “were good for the Jewish people.”
Herman did not speak much about the Holocaust to me but he did tell me he never forgot those who perished, particularly his sister, and her two sons, who at age 4 and 6, were sent to the gas chambers. After living on Cherry Street on the Lower East Side, Herman told me how he remembered the Eldridge Street Synagogue, the Bialystoker Synagogue, and restaurants such as Bernstein’s on Essex Street and Ratners on Delancy Street.
Herman later found his way to Crown Heights where he became a barber and owned “Herman’s Hairstyles – Unisex,” on Albany Avenue, with separate rooms for men and women. Herman married, had two children, and became a Barber, serving the Crown Heights community. He cut the hair of many young boys, teens, and young men, such as a young Avraham Friedman, who later took the stage name, Avraham Fried, and became one of the most popular musical entertainers in the Orthodox Jewish world.
Herman regularly cut the hair of many Lubavitcher Chassidim of Crown Heights, who made sure he said the bracha. He told me how he would daven at the Young Israel of Flatbush and of the friendships he made there. Unable to see in one eye and hard of hearing, in recent years, Herman davened at home. He told me about his many travels, to Florida, Montreal, Niagara Falls, and most dear to his heart, Israel. He spoke of Jerusalem, especially the Kotel and the King David Hotel, as well as the Dead Sea, and Masada.
Friendship was a very important part of Herman’s life and he often told me about his friend Chaim Langsam, also a Holocaust Survivor, who lived two blocks away and davened at the Young Israel of Flatbush. Herman spoke fondly of Chaim, telling me about trips to Miami Beach and the Catskill Mountains, where the two men would walk around the lake at the Kutscher’s Hotel.
In recent years, Herman’s truest friend was his aide, Lydia, who spoke to him in his native Polish and took care of him to the very best of her ability. I fondly remember the look on both their faces as I delivered mishloach manot for Purim, courtesy of the MitzvahMan organization and the JCC of Greater Coney Island and its connect2ny.org program. Both of them were happy to see that others cared about them and they were appreciative and thankful.
On one visit, I was fortunate to find a misdelivered package, in the lobby of Herman’s apartment building. I brought the package to Herman, and inside was a gift from Bikur Cholim, a new large print Siddur, for which Herman seemed eternally grateful. Despite macular degeneration in his eyes, Herman continued to pray at home and did the best he could. He was a true “Survivor” until the end, battling loss of hearing, melanoma, prostate cancer, and other ailments. He had “emunah,” faith in Hashem, who had mercy and allowed him to live a long life, past 101.
Always thankful for everything, Herman loved going to lunch, daily at the Agudath Community Center, on Avenue I, run by Rabbi Heineman and his Staff. Herman appreciated the good in people and was always thankful. It was this character trait or middos, that I will most remember about Herman. Thank you Herman, for being a friend, for being such an elder gentleman, in the purest sense.
Herman Graulich is survived by his daughter Marlene Gold and her husband, as well as their son and daughter.
Baruch Dayan Ha’emes.
I hope that one of his friends will arrange Kaddish for him.
Thank you for sharing this inspirational person with us. Bde. And your commitment to him and other survivors is something many can learn from.
B d e
He was my barber in the 70s
On albany Ave
A real Nice Mensch
Always Used Him Not Only when I LIved On Lefferts But Long after, He Used to Come To Work By Train & Bus; B Train To Parkside, Than Bus To East NY Cor Albany
Yichei Zichro Boruch