“Six million were wiped off the face of the earth. There is a danger that they will be annihilated from our memories. Are they doomed to a two-fold annihilation?” – Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. This quote was regularly used in the early issues of Centre News.
Centre News through the ages Lina Leibovich
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ith the very first issue of Centre News published in December 1984, its first editor Cyla Sokolowicz (neé Cyla Sokolowicz. Goldman) said, “As a survivor, I feel a deep sense of responsibility to pass on my knowledge of what happened.” The purpose behind what was originally called Holocaust Centre News in the early days was mostly for survivors reaching out to other survivors, calling to collect artefacts, and functioning largely as an internal newsletter for survivors.
Cyla Sokolowicz was born into a Chassidic family in Lodz. Her father was a great scholar and Rabbi who imbued in her a love of learning, which endured her whole life. When the war broke out, Cyla spent four and a half years in the Lodz ghetto, right up to its liquidation in August 1944. After a short time in Auschwitz, she was sent to an aeroplane factory near Dresden. In 1945 she was shunted around in open wagons and finally taken to Mathausen. She was liberated by the Americans on May 5. Cyla’s parents and seven siblings were murdered in the Holocaust. “Experience has taught us that survivors’ personal accounts leave by far the strongest impression on the minds of the young. The JHC is giving to all those who survived the infamous years under the Nazi rule, a unique opportunity to use their horrendous experiences in the service of a great cause – peace for the world.” – Cyla Sokolowicz, editorial Holocaust Centre News, Vol 3, No. 2. June 1986 She supported her husband Aron Sokolowicz in his efforts to establish the Jewish Holocaust Centre and became the founding editor of the Centre News. Her editorials were always labours of love and very thought provoking. They felt raw and filled with emotion and depth. Cyla was the editor of the Holocaust Centre News from its inception in December 1984 until 1992, as well as volunteering as a guide at the Centre.
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JHC Centre News
“What makes it a unique institution though, is that survivors provide living history as they communicate to visitors of the centre, not through hate, but through a sense of duty, that by love and tolerance greater harmony can be achieved in the world.” – Cyla Sokolowicz, Holocaust Centre News, Vol 4, No. 2: June 1987 Stan Marks OAM took over the Centre News editorship in 1993 following a few editions with various editorial contributors. Stan is a well known Stan Marks OAM. and respected reporter, journalist and author of 14 books. His lifetime career in journalism and public relations saw him recognised through many awards, such as OAM. Stan came to the JHC through his wife, child survivor Eva Marks, who worked there tirelessly as a curatorial assistant. Many of Stan’s editorials focused on the importance the JHC plays in educating our community. “It is welcomed as an educational resource and a catalyst in bringing diverse groups of people together to fight the evils that have led to so much past, and, indeed, present suffering and misunderstanding.” – Stan Marks, Centre News, Vol 27, No. 3, December 2005
