Page 56 - Centrum Dialogu im. Marka Edelmana w Łodzi. Litzmannstadt Getto. Ślady.

rabbi. Shortly after the war Lajb Szczekacz Rozen
was the first rabbi of Lodz. He was also a contributor
to the Bricha (Escape) organization involved in the
organization of illegal trips of Jews saved from the
Holocaust to the land of Israel. Already in 1945, he
left Poland. Gutka went to Eretz Israel (Land of Israel)
in 1946. Having adopted a new name, she wanted
to start a new life and forget about the cruel past.
But her new identity is closely related with the past.
– My dad’s name was Hersh, in Hebrew Zvi. I’m his
daughter, so I should call myself a bat Tova Zvi (bat in
Hebrew daughter, Ben – son), but I also wanted to
commemorate his brother, so I left Ben Zvi – explains.
Tova means good.
She graduated in new home from a seminar for
teachers, where she studied Hebrew and Judaic
literature and later was teaching at the Hebrew
University, as well as singing in the conservatory. She
Tova Ben-Zvi oraz prezes Związku Byłych Mieszkańców was a teacher, lecturer and singer. She has performed
Łodzi w Izraelu Zvi Bergman in many countries, promoting Jewish culture outside
Tova Ben-Zvi and the President of the Association of of Israel and Europe, in South America, in the United
Former Residents of Lodz in Israel Zvi Bergman
States, even in South Africa. In the '80s, she first
came to Poland.
– It was still a rebellious back, from a large dis-
Tova bat Zvi (bat to po hebrajsku córka, ben – syn), tance, but it awakened my curiosity to the country
ale chciałam też upamiętnić swojego brata, dlatego of birth and its culture. From my childhood, I re-
zostawiłam ben Zvi – tłumaczy. Tova znaczy dobra. membered the names of cities and towns, but did
Ukończyła w nowej ojczyźnie seminarium dla not know the specific places. I remembered a few.
nauczycieli, studiowała literaturę hebrajską i nauki So I began to visit Poland and to come here regu-
judaistyczne na Uniwersytecie Hebrajskim, a tak- larly – she says.
że śpiew w konserwatorium. Była pedagogiem,
wykładowcą i pieśniarką. Występowała w wielu
krajach, propagując kulturę żydowską, poza Izraelem
i Europą także w Ameryce Południowej, USA, nawet
w Południowej Afryce. W latach 80. po raz pierwszy
przyjechała do Polski.
– To był jeszcze taki buntowniczy powrót, z du-
żym dystansem, ale obudziła się moja ciekawość

Joanna Brańska, prezes Towarzystwa Polska-Izrael i Tova
Ben-Zvi podczas spotkania w Cieszynie, 1993 r.
Joanna Brańska, president of the Poland-Israel Society
and Tova Ben-Zvi during a meeting in Cieszyn, 1993

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