Justina Bello

   DECEMBER 2022 For this month’s article, we have asked some of our survivors in PHA to share their memories of Hanukah. To learn more about our Arizona survivors,see https://phxha.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ID-Cards_with-cover.pdf Rise Stillman shared: “I wish I had some beautiful and interesting Hanukah memories to share. So, I can only tell you what I recall. Instead of candles, my father scooped out potatoes, put a wick and oil in, lit the candle, as we gathered to hear the prayers and explain the miracle of Hanukah. As a child, I did not realize that we were too poor to have a menorah and candles. I thought everyone used potatoes for candles.” Freida Allweiss was born in 1933 and lived in the town…

   I consider myself a well-educated person, with a few high academic degrees, which made my motherproud. I grew up and was educated in New York. After living and working in five other countries, Irelocated to Phoenix, Arizona and became active as a volunteer at the Heard Museum(https://heard.org/). This was the first time I learned about the terrible abuses against AmericanIndians, including the history of the infamous Boarding Schools for American Indian children. I washorrified to learn that children were forced–actually kidnapped–and sent thousands of miles awayfrom home to government or church-run schools throughout the United States. I was mortified and‘uncomfortable’ to learn that my own government was responsible for these decisions, theseviolations of treaties, these deaths, and these abuses.