Shloyme Zynstein was a powerful force in the rebirth of Jewish culture in the displaced persons camps of postwar Germany. Zynstein, his wife, Rachel, and their two young children lived at the Bamberg DP Camp in the American section of occupied Germany from 1945 to 1947, and it was there that he founded the Bamberg Yidishe Drama Studio. Journeying among DP camps, Zynstein and the troupe performed Yiddish theater favorites from Sholem Asch’s “Af Kidush Hashem” (“In the Sanctification of God’s Name”) to lighter fare, like Sholom Aleichem’s “Dos Groyse Gevins” (“The Lottery”). Zynstein directed and acted with the company, and also worked as photojournalist for the camp newspaper and for several other Yiddish papers. He managed to develop and print images in a home darkroom that he established in the Zynsteins’ apartment at the camp, which they shared with Rachel’s surviving cousins, Moyshe and Rifke Kupitz.
During the war, Zynstein had been a tailor, and he survived several deportation attempts precisely because his handmade uniforms were favored by the local Nazi general. It was while repairing one such uniform that he overheard talk of an upcoming “ausrein” in which women and children would be deported to death camps. He deftly arranged for Rachel, then nine months pregnant with their first child, to escape.
Today, that child, Fran (“Freydele”) Oz, who was born in 1942 in the Zshmerinker ghetto in Transnistria, is working to preserve her father’s legacy. In a recent interview with the Forward, she spoke of her father’s creative life amid the war, during which he organized the underground newspaper and taught Hebrew school in the ghetto, among other things. “Thank God my father was a lover of life,” she said, “and kept us human throughout it all.”
Zynstein’s adventures continued in 1947, when the family immigrated to America aboard the leak-prone American ship the Ernie Pyle. Oz, who lives in the Bronx, remembers being placed on a lifeboat as her father remained on board as long as possible, photographing the sinking of the ship. Fortunately, all the family arrived safely in New York the next day. Below are some of Zynstein’s images. After reading an earlier Forward article about Yiddish theater, Oz shared her father’s photo album with us. She’s currently applying for grants in order to write about the lesser-known history of Yiddish theater in DP camps.
The Forward welcomes reader comments in order to promote thoughtful discussion on issues of importance to the Jewish community. In the interest of maintaining a civil forum, the Forward requires that all commenters be appropriately respectful toward our writers, other commenters and the subjects of the articles. Vigorous debate and reasoned critique are welcome; name-calling and personal invective are not. While we generally do not seek to edit or actively moderate comments, the Forward reserves the right to remove comments for any reason.
To post a comment, click to login:
Copyright © 2012, Forward Association, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
My cousin June Brott edited the auto biography of her cousin who survived the Shoah tailoring Nazi uniforms in the camps. He lost his first wife and their 2 children. Needle and Thread: A Tale of Survival from Bialystok to Paris (Unknown Binding) by Charles Zabuski (Author), June Sutz Brott (Contributor) After the war, he lived in Paris where he continued to be a tailor. He was survived by his son from his second wife, another survivor. Contact: jbrott@sbcglobal.net
I believe the Zynsteins used to stay at my parents bungalow colony outside Monticello in the 60's and 70's. Rachel player her Mandolin sweetly, Shloyme was the entertainer who brought down the house with his jokes and stories in our annual end of summer show every Labor Day weekend and my mother and Fran played long games of scrabble at the pool. I remember Moshe Oz playing soccer with the other male guests too. How wonderful to be reminded of those great days. Good luck on the project!
Camp Kinderwelt alumnae are looking for Marilyn Zynstein, daughter. Thank you!