Dr. Emanuel Tanay

"Absolutists’ beliefs be they religious or ideological are genocidal. Education about the past genocides should be part of every curriculum. Even though I was teaching in medical school and law school I found teaching about genocide in Florida secondary schools most rewarding. Florida has mandatory Holocaust education. As a charter member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, I consider this institution to be of immense importance. I am troubled... (continued below)"

Name at birth

Emanuel Tenenwurzel

Date of birth

03/05/1928

Where were you born?

Vilna, Poland (now Lithuania)

Where did you grow up?

Between ages six and fourteen, I lived in Miechow, Poland

Name of father, occupation

Bunim Tenenwurzel, Dentist

Maiden name of mother, occupation

Betty Kowarski, Physician-dentist

Immediate family (names, birth order)

Parents, myself, and my sister Olga Ruth

How many in entire extended family?

Who survived the Holocaust?

My mother, my sister, two of my mother's sisters, and myself

My mother’s sister, Clara, jumped from the train taking Jews to the extermination camp. The SS shot at her as she was rolling down the embankment. She got two bullets in her leg but survived in the forest. She later emigrated to Israel.

My mother’s sister, Sonya, was in Stutthof concentration camp when the Russians were approaching. The women were placed on ships without a crew in the hope that they would drown. They ended up in Sweden. Sonya lived for many years in Israel.

I escaped from the Ghetto in 1942 and entered the Mogila Monastery. I was denounced and escaped from Gestapo by hiding in the Church organ. This event was depicted in the Oscar nominated documentary, “The Courage to Care.”

I was in number of jails including the famous Foe Ucca Prison. Hannah Szenes was in the next cell. One of her companions was in my cell. I escaped from there. I was in the concentration camp, Topolya in Yugoslavia, escaped from there with help of a Gestapo man whom I trusted.

I came to Communist Poland searching for my father who was, as it turned out, executed by Amon Goeth, depicted in some detail in Schindler’s List. Upon return to Poland, my life was in danger. Jews were being killed. I resumed my Christian identity and shortly thereafter escaped to the American occupied zone of Germany. I had false papers.

See my book, Passport to Life: Autobiographical Reflections on the Holocaust.

Name of Ghetto(s)

Miechow / Poland

Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)

Topolya / Yugoslavia

Where were you in hiding?

I hid in a monastery

What DP Camp were you after the war?

I was in Landsberg DP Camp at the time when General Patton kept the Jews behind barbed wire. I escaped to Munich and lived among the Germans. I studied political science and medicine. I received an MD degree in December of 1951.

Where did you go after being liberated?

I was liberated in Budapest, wandered all over Europe, ending up in Poland and Germany.

When did you come to the United States?

January 1952

Where did you settle?

I took an internship at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, psychiatric residency training at Elgin State Hospital.

How is it that you came to Michigan?

I received a staff position at Ypsilanti State Hospital and became associate director of the Detroit Receiving Hospital Department of Psychiatry.

Occupation after the war

Academic psychiatry, private practice of psychotherapy, and forensic psychiatry. I was a consultant to the German compensation office of Holocaust Survivors and examined hundreds of survivors from all over the world. I am an author of three books, co-author of some, and author of many scientific papers.

When and where were you married?

August 7, 1970

Spouse

Sandra, Teacher

Children

Anita, lawyer; Elaine, social worker; David, lawyer, employed by Michigan Attorney General

Grandchildren

Six: Aaron, Jeremy, Sarah, Rachel, James, and Katherine

What do you think helped you to survive?

My optimism, resourcefulness, and courage. The help of Christians was important however the help of Jews was even more significant. Without the underground organization of Zionists in Budapest, neither my mother, sister, nor I would have survived.

What message would you like to leave for future generations?

Absolutists’ beliefs be they religious or ideological are genocidal. Education about the past genocides should be part of every curriculum. Even though I was teaching in medical school and law school I found teaching about genocide in Florida secondary schools most rewarding. Florida has mandatory Holocaust education. As a charter member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, I consider this institution to be of immense importance. I am troubled by the distortions of Holocaust history that conflict with my clear memories. I am in the process of writing a book called “The Genocide of the Jews: Myth and Reality”.