“Both of my parents were born in Vienna, as survivors. They were fortunate to be able to leave. Three of my grandparents were not so fortunate. Two of them were trapped by the Nazi’s and one of them committed suicide when he heard the Gestapo coming for him,” said Rabbi Eric Slaton.
Slaton said both sets of his grandparents decided that it was not a good time to bring Jewish children into the world, so he comes from a small family. However, he grew up around survivors and other kids that had parents and grandparents who were survivors, so he has always heard a lot of stories about the Holocaust. His mom didn’t speak very much about it, but she died when he was 17 years old.
“It was too painful for her. My dad, on the other hand, started telling me bits and pieces of his story. He died in 2010, and 10 or 15 years before he died, he started speaking to groups about his experience. Neither of my parents were in the concentration camps, but because they lived under the Nazi’s, they still suffered. And, of course, with the loss of their parents, they were both orphaned fairly young. My mom was sent to America to live with some family. So, she was separated from her mother for a very long time,” Slaton said.
He said there were tremendous implications of the Holocaust for his family. They were traumatized and many of them were killed.
“Fortunately, some of them got out and we got together, but we didn’t talk about it. People, survivors, really didn’t talk about the Holocaust until 1967. They were so traumatized and filled with guilt. Many of them felt guilty because they had lived, as opposed to the rest of their family, who had died,” Slaton said.
Slaton became interest in Judaism at a very young age. He started teaching Sunday School, was part of a youth group, and decided he wanted to become a rabbi. After he graduated from the University of Minnesota, he applied and was accepted at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. After five years, he became a rabbi. With a diminishing number of Holocaust survivors, Slaton said the job of sharing about the Holocaust falls to the second generation, and people who have a connection to it.
“Talking about the Holocaust has been something that always has been of interest to me, because I have a personal connection to it, even though, I, myself wasn’t involved in it, but my parents were,” Slaton said.
He said what happened to the Jews is a lesson for humanity today.
“We have an obligation to tell the story as best we can, so that people can understand that it really did occur and it affected real people,” Slaton said.
Beth Israel Congregation has been in Hamilton for 110 years. Rabbi Slaton has served at the synagogue for 23 years, which is located at 50 N. Sixth St.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Rabbi Slaton will speak via Zoom. For more details, or to register, go online to holocaustandhumanity.org/event/holocaust-speaker-series-rabbi-eric-slaton. The online webinar begins at 11 a.m. is expected to last an hour. It is free to attend and open to the public.
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