George Rusznak: Mini Essay Pt. 1

A few months ago, I had the honor of interviewing George Rusznak. George is many things: husband, father, businessman, and he’s also a Holocaust survivor. Throughout our interview, three main themes emerged: fear, hate, and hope. In this three-part mini-essay series, I plan to explore each of these through the lens of George’s story in contrast with what we as a Jewish community are facing today, beginning with fear.

One of the first things George told me is when he was growing up he remembers three things above all else. He was “cold, scared, and hungry”. He remembers feeling these things all the time and having such fear ingrained in you from such a young age, yet he survived and created a life worth living. I hope the stories of George's that I’ll share can be a reminder to persevere even in the harshest conditions.  

One piece of George’s story that has stuck with me since our interview was a specific moment about his mother. When he was six years old, George became very ill and needed medicine, but of course, resources were quite slim in those times. His neighbor, who would help look after George and his sister, said that he needed medicine or he would die. She tried to force a homemade brew down his throat to ease his symptoms, but George couldn't keep it down. George's mother courageously went out when she wasn’t supposed to, in areas she wasn’t supposed to to try to find medicine for George. 

She was caught and arrested the first time she attempted this, but she managed to escape. The next night she tried again, also to be caught. However, she managed to escape for the second time and returned with the medicine for George. He shared that he “probably would have died without that [the medicine]”. Throughout all of George’s stories, one theme seems to ring true, which is his mother‘s bravery and determination to keep her children alive during the holocaust. I feel this is a testament to what a mother’s love is and how it knows no bounds.

George shared: “While I never learned the details of how she did it, I clearly understand the extraordinary courage, determination and resourcefulness it must have taken. I am certain that not many had tried, or succeeded, and I am also certain that having done it twice made it a unique, maybe singular, achievement.” 

After George recounted this tale for me, I asked him if he thought his mother was scared. I asked if he thought she was fearful when she did this, and George told me “Of course she was scared, but she did it anyway”. 

This reminded me of one of my favorite quotes: “Courage isn’t the absence of fear, rather the realization that something else is more important than fear”. We all have our fears right now, and many of us are scared to show up in spaces the way we used to. But George’s mother was a true testament to Jewish courage and showed us that we can have fear and still do hard things. We can be scared and still be courageous. We can feel this generational fear of persecution and continue to show up and prove that we belong wherever we want to be.  Being Jewish is beautiful and wonderful and full of so many blessings, and it can also be scary. 

It’s normal to have fear when you know some people exist in the world that don’t want us here. But when we allow fear to stop us from being courageous, they win. George grew up and in what could be considered the harshest of conditions, he experienced true fear and still went on to do incredible things with a beautiful family. He went on to lead a remarkable life of freedom and joy; a true testament to the Jewish spirit. We can’t let fear keep us from living the lives we deserve. Be scared, but do it anyway. 

-Lily Karofsky