On an unusually hot and sunny Sunday in February, about 50 members of the Jewish community gathered under shade sails in the back lot of the Aish LA on Pico Boulevard to honor 95-year-old local businessman and Holocaust survivor David Wiener, who had just made a donation to dedicate Aish LA’s interior hall. Sunday’s event was the official unveiling of the dedication on the building’s front. In large letters, under “The Boxenbaum Family Aish Outreach Center,” the dark grey building now includes the names of Mr. Wiener’s parents, Moshe Chaim and Chana Wiener, who perished along with seven of Weiner’s eight siblings in the Holocaust.
Mr. Wiener, dressed in a navy sport coat, white shirt and black baseball cap, sat on a folding chair in the sun, along with the assembled guests. Aish LA COO Azriel Aharon and Aish LA Executive Director Rabbi Aryeh Markman talked about the donation. Then Mr. Wiener took the mic. In a steady, low, accented voice he shared some details about his childhood in Lodz, Poland. When German officers rolled into town in 1939, destroying the synagogue across the street from his family’s one-room apartment, he decided, at age 13, it was time to leave.
He talked about his journey to Warsaw, then later, to a labor camp near Deblin, then Birkenau, and through multiple near-death moments and repeated escapes. (The Jewish Journal wrote about his ordeals on April 27, 2016.) He faltered, tearing up as he recounted family members who died, and one cousin he saved.
LA on a sunny Sunday feels so far from Nazi-era Germany, yet Mr. Wiener spoke about his childhood and his family with an immediacy that conveyed the urgent link between our shared past and our future. The connection between Jewish history and continuity also animates the mission of Aish LA. As Mr. Aharon put it, this makes Mr. Wiener’s gift and pledge of continued involvement particularly meaningful. “The donation is to help us further our programming, send more kids to Israel, send more kids to Poland, and connect more kids and adults to Judaism and their heritage. That’s what David is about and what we’re about,” Mr. Aharon said.
Aish LA is a local nonprofit with a 40-plus year history in LA, affiliated with Aish HaTorah worldwide. It is dedicated to revitalizing the Jewish people through educational and experiential programs, including heavily subsidized trips to Israel for young professionals, moms and dads, most of whom have never been to Israel before. It also offers one-on-one learning, group classes, and social events.
After his speech, Mr. Wiener met with members of the Aish community. Then he sat down in the shade with Rabbi Markman. “I work with different organizations. You name it, I’m there,” he said. “This one, a friend of mine told me about it. Then I met this guy here.” He nodded toward Rabbi Markman, sitting to his left. “He twisted my arm. He educated me, step by step. I’m happy. I’m happy. Rabbi, are you happy with me?”
“I’m so happy,” Rabbi Markman said.
A successful businessman who has lived in Los Angeles for decades, Mr. Wiener wrote a memoir about his childhood, his family and his experience surviving the Holocaust, called Nothing to Lose But My Life, which was published privately in 2007.
Wendy Paris is an author and ghostwriter living in Santa Monica. She is currently finishing a Master’s degree in Social Work.
