Miracles, Chances, and Community

Rosecarrie Brooks | Jewish Long Beach Board Member and past AJCC president

When I was asked to tell my “Jewish Long Beach Story,” I starting reflecting upon my decades of volunteerism and community service. My thoughts then turned immediately to my parents. I did not always realize the extent to which they were true role models for how I have lived my life. Their journey, and ultimately mine, depended on miracles, chances, and community.

My parents, Henriette (Hetty) and Herman Goslins, were both from Groningen in the north of Holland. My family had roots in Netherlands dating back to the 18th century. Our family was Jewish but were assimilated into the Dutch culture and successful in business. As it did with other Jewish communities in Europe, that all changed when the Nazis invaded Holland. In late 1941, my mother’s younger brother Bert was arrested, imprisoned and sent to Buchenwald. He died there in March 1942. Around the same time, my father was sent to a labor camp. During his time in the camp my father was able to find a sympathetic doctor, who helped get him temporarily released from camp for an unnecessary operation. After getting the operation he did not return to the camp and rejoined his family. Fortunately, shortly after this reunion they were able to find a Righteous Gentile widower who was willing to hide them in a small attic. However, they could not take their 4-month-old infant daughter, my older sister Bertie, with them into hiding for fear her crying would give them away. Luckily, they heard of a couple in the Dutch resistance movement who worked with unwed mothers and were willing to take Bertie in. The world knows about Dutch Jews hiding in attics from the famous diary of Anne Frank. Five members of the Goslins family also hid in a very small attic for two and a half years. Unlike the Frank family, those five of our immediate family survived. However, at least 77 people from their closeknit extended family did not survive and that has always made family that much more important to all of us. Miraculously, my parents were reunited with my sister, who was three years old at the time.

Enjoying the 2017 Visions event are (seated) Alan and Rosecarrie Brooks with family and friends standing, left to right: Arielle Sitrick, Miriam Goslins, Helene Goodman, and Laura King.

I was born in Assen, Netherlands, in July of 1946. We stayed in the Netherlands after the war creating new lives and a new successful business. But my parents became increasingly worried about reliving an invasion with the advent of the Korean War and the Iron Curtain creeping west. We almost immigrated to Canada but at the last hour our U.S. Visas were approved.

What I remember most about our Atlantic crossing is going on deck while the ship’s passengers eagerly viewed the Statue of Liberty as we entered New York harbor. We were fortunate to be sponsored by some distant relatives from Downey, California. I vividly recall our first airplane flight in 1953, crossing the United States to come to California.

A year later, we moved to Bellflower. At that time, Bellflower and the surrounding communities were mostly populated by immigrant-owned dairy farms. Being an immigrant at 7 years old (not speaking a word of English) and the daughter of Holocaust survivors has always informed who I am. My parents worked very hard establishing themselves in the retail clothing business and most of the household chores fell to my sisters and me. In those days, our parents spoke about their hiding experience, but very little about the Holocaust and certainly never about the emotions or the personal pain that they experienced during the war. It was not until my grandmother passed away at the age of 90 in 1983, that I first heard my father express some of the emotions that went along with being a survivor. Fortunately, my parents’ story is now preserved on tape thanks to the Shoah Foundation.

In my parents early years here, they became a part of a circle of friends that were active in building our community. Gene Lentzner was a mentor. They played cards and socialized with the Neuburgers, Zahlers and Raphael’s among others. Even when my parents moved to Newport Beach, they stayed active in this community. It was Gene Lentzner who gave the tribute speech when the Long Beach Orange County Anti-Defamation League honored Herman and Hetty in 2007. My relationship with the Jewish community was partly formed out of these friendships.

When my family moved from Bellflower to Downey, I grew up attending Temple Ner Tamid. In fact, I was a member of its first confirmation class. My sister was a founding member and president of B’nai Brith Girls (BBG) in Downey. Ultimately, all three of us in turn were elected to the chapter’s presidency and held many other BBG leadership roles.

I first became aware of the Alpert Jewish Community Center (AJCC) when my daughter Lisa was a baby and my husband Alan and I were living in Belmont Shore. I soon became a part of the Parent Teacher Association at the AJCC pre-school and was responsible for starting the “Mommy and Me” program. My daughter, Lisa, was in the first Kindergarten class in 1979. I remained active in the Campership Committee, after-school programs, the AJCC board and in the mid-1980s was chair of the Youth, Family and Camp Committee. That group started a Children’s Cultural Arts Series, neighborhood Judaic programs, “I Love Shabbat” and much more. After years and many board positions, I was elected president of the AJCC from 1997-1999, during its transition from the old building to the current campus. As busy as my parents were in the family business, both my parents always found time to participate in local civic and philanthropic organizations and I know that involvement influenced my path in philanthropic endeavors.

Celebrating Rosecarrie’s birthday, left to right: Ryan Damron, Lisa Brooks, Alexis Brooks holding Dylan Fitzpatrick, Rosecarrie Brooks, Alan Brooks, Brendan Fitzpatrick holding Brooks Fitzpatrick with Callan Fitzpatrick standing in front.

As the years progressed, I went on to serve on the boards of the Jewish Community Foundation (now Jewish Long Beach), California Conference of Equality and Justice (where I also served a term as board chair) and the Anti-Defamation League. I also recently completed my term on the Jewish Long Beach Board as chair of the Investment Committee.

It is so important to our family that there be a strong Jewish community here in the Greater Long Beach area. My own children were fortunate to grow up participating in many programs at Temple Israel, the AJCC and the Bureau of Jewish Education. Lisa had her Bat Mitzvah in Israel in 1987 and Alexis went on our first community Teen Israel trips. Alexis and her husband Brendan were part of Honeymoon Israel – a program for interfaith couples that is made possible nationally by donations through local federations. Alan and I have opened an Endowment Fund at Jewish Long Beach. We feel it is important to perpetuate Jewish life here. This community has helped me become who I am. Over the years I have grown in my understanding of its importance to a meaningful Jewish community and I want that opportunity for others going forward.

I am proud to celebrate this community becoming one with the integration of Jewish Long Beach and the Alpert JCC and look forward to us continuing to learn, grow, and embrace the larger community as well.