Holocaust Survivor Bendit Speaks at Cambridge High
Morris Bendit, one of the youngest Holocaust survivors alive, shared his story with the tenth-grade class.
Morris Bendit is one of the youngest Holocaust survivors to date as he was only a year old when the Germans invaded his hometown of Chemosvit, Ukraine.
Bendit served as a guest speaker at Cambridge High School on March 24, as part of a special program for tenth grade students, organized by Korin Pinsky, head English teacher for the sophomore class and founder of the ADL-sponsored club “No Place for Hate.” It was a rare opportunity for students to hear from someone who is an integral part of history.
Bendit was born on Jan. 22, 1941. When he was 2, his father enlisted in the Soviet Army to fight the Nazis. His plane was shot down by the Germans, and he was killed instantly. Soon after, on Oct. 19, 1941, the Germans — with the help of the Ukrainians — invaded Chemosvit, which eventually became a Jewish ghetto. At first, 50,000 Jews were forced out of their homes and into the ghetto, and many were shot point blank while in route.
The area in Ukraine, Transnistria, which means “Behind the River to the Black Sea,” was 16,000 square feet and became a massive “killing field.” Ukrainian farms and houses would shut their doors to the hungry and ill Jews. Bendit described it as a giant cemetery. Although Transnistria was not a typical ghetto with work camps, wire gates, and gas chambers, it was the largest killing field in the Holocaust. Bendit, his mother, and his grandmother would wander and scavenge in the fields for food scraps, which were mostly left over from animals.
Bendit said they would aimlessly walk day and night among the fields, “Nothing to look at, nothing to look for.” At times, the temperature was 40-below zero. The Jews who were taken into Transnistria were forced to dig mass graves in which many were put in, after they were murdered.
Bendit was named the miracle baby, as he had numerous life-threatening diseases, but somehow, he survived despite being so young with no medicine or medical care. Many of his family members perished due to cold, starvation, and disease. The weak were left to die from freezing temperatures and malnutrition. His mother held him throughout the fields for days; in one instance, she was hit with a rifle on her head, and although still bleeding, she wouldn’t let go of her baby. All three survived against the odds and the horrific conditions. His grandmother even removed her gold teeth and sold them to try and get a scrap of bread.
Bendit developed a boil on his head when he was a young child due to the many diseases he had acquired. The boil had to be cut away. He kept the scar as is — as a reminder of his past.
After the war, his family ended up in Romania and then, eventually, Israel. A Romanian woman named Anna Parker helped survivors immigrate to Israel, including Bendit’s family. In 1949, they arrived in Israel.
Bendit served as a staff sergeant in the Israeli Navy. After he served in the IDF, for financial reasons, the family immigrated to Canada and later to the U.S., settling in Jacksonville, Fla.
In 1969, Bendit met his beautiful wife, Hanna. He and his wife had three daughters and, later, six grandchildren. One of his daughters, Wendy Bendit-Golden, is the head of the career-based intervention program at Cambridge High for kids with disabilities. His eldest, Rebecca, works with synagogues, teens, and women’s programs to educate and share her father’s story.
We cannot let the deniers win. Hate is so strong that they deny that the Holocaust ever happened. Silence is a lethal weapon.
Bendit’s revenge, he said, was to survive and raise his family. When asked by a reporter years ago in his hometown of Jacksonville as to why it was so important to tell his story, Bendit replied that history always repeats itself, saying, “We cannot let the deniers win. Hate is so strong that they deny that the Holocaust ever happened. Silence is a lethal weapon.”
“Never again” means ensuring that Israel remains safe. Unfortunately, recent events serve as a grim reminder that it can happen again. Antisemitism has reached unprecedented levels, and now, more than ever, it is crucial to share the stories of survivors. For Morris Bendit, it is essential to share his family’s harrowing experience during one of the darkest times in Jewish history.
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