Harry and Naomi Zaslow
Photos by Elaine Durbach
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September 23, 2009
Harry Zaslow says he became a writer to tell today’s world, “Beware of tyrants.” The memoir he wrote detailing his experiences as a soldier in World War II, A Teenager’s Journey in War and Peace, carries the warning that the atrocities he witnessed in Europe can happen again.
His wife’s memoir, on the other hand, is a celebration of family life. Naomi Zaslow wrote Memories: Of a Life Well Loved, she said, as a form of defense, to keep herself busy while her husband was absorbed with “his mistress” — the 600-plus-page book he spent three years writing.
Both self-published volumes, their authors acknowledged, taught them a lot about themselves and about each other. Already married for 58 years when their equally large tomes were published in 2006, they discovered anecdotes and attitudes they hadn’t heard in all those years of devotion.
Their delight in one another lit up their Sept. 16 presentation to about two dozen seniors at the JCC of Central New Jersey in Scotch Plains. Their talk was hosted by adult enrichment director Barbara Weisbart. She tapped a cherished personal connection to lure the Zaslows to Scotch Plains from their home in Ventnor. In an earlier incarnation as a teacher, Weisbart taught the youngest of their four children, writer and humorist Lisa Segelman, when she was in fourth grade. Segelman, who lives in Randolph, was present for their talk — and to visit with a teacher who became a close family friend.
(One of the couple’s three sons, Jeffrey Zaslow, is also a writer, author of The Girls from Ames and coauthor of The Last Lecture, both best-sellers.)
“I would encourage everyone to write their story or have it written,” Naomi told her JCC audience. “Everyone has a story and everyone’s story has meaning. It doesn’t have to be a Pulitzer-Prize winner; your story is important to your family.”
But, she cautioned, if you want to avoid a family feud, that involves walking a fine line. “You have to be honest,” Naomi said, “but you also have to be careful not to hurt anyone. You can’t write everything.”
Naomi’s parents were immigrants from Poland in the early years of the 20th century. Many of their relatives were killed in the Holocaust, and she grew up knowing little about their background. She wanted a different experience for her four children, 13 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren (so far); she wanted them to know her and her story. “When I think of my grandmother, I see the picture of her with a diamond comb in her hair. What that picture can tell me is all I know about her. With us, it will be very different.”
Naomi did most of the talking at the JCC. A bubbly, outgoing personality from the start, she began performing as a five-year-old, going on to become an actor, writer, and TV producer and director. Her book lovingly describes her childhood in south Philadelphia, her careers as a newspaper reporter and public relations professional, and her role as a mother raising four children in Broomall, Pa.
Harry, a visual artist and a real estate investor, was just as willing to talk, but his subject matter was darker. Drafted at 18 in 1943, he found himself plunged into the horrors of war, including what he saw at the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. For decades, he didn’t talk about what he witnessed, until about 15 years ago, when he was persuaded to speak to school groups about war and genocide. He did it, he said, though he was shy, because “it had to be done.” Since then, he has brought his message to some 6,000 students and teachers.
His drive to sound the alarms about war got a major push when his mother died a few years later. Among her possessions he found a huge stash of the letters — some 425 — he wrote to his family while he was in the army. “I knew how much mothers worried about their sons abroad,” he told the JCC audience. “I wrote every chance I got, so they would know exactly what was happening with me — though I didn’t mention anything strategic.”
One of those letters, describing the liberation of Dachau, is in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
In addition to the letters, Harry had a huge book of photographs from the war, a volume he picked up during house-to-house searches for Nazi propaganda. It includes a description of a train car he saw, laden with dead bodies from floor to roof. “Be careful, Zaslow,” he said one of his fellow soldiers told him. “You could end up like that.”
Naomi complained, good naturedly, that in all the pages of her husband’s book, she wasn’t mentioned until page 550, and there are only three photos of her — compared to 60 of Hitler. On the other hand, in a list of life lessons Harry gives at the end of his book, he writes: “My soul mate is a treasure.”
‘Man and His Maker’
Yom Kippur — Day of Atonement
Reaching out to the Almighty for another year of life
September 19, 1945
…If America, England, France, and Russia were not victorious, freedom and the opportunity to have a normal life would not have been possible. Attending the Frankfurt synagogue of the highest Jewish holiday of the year, the Day of Atonement, would not have been possible.
Now the Day of Atonement has arrived! Five months ago, armies were pitched against one another, having the technical military equipment to kill one another. But the evil Nazis who murdered the children of God deserve to be punished….
Jewish soldiers left their encampments to be present on the Day of Atonement. Despite destruction of the synagogues throughout Germany, the Frankfurt synagogue survived in structure. The interior was damaged severely.…
Perhaps nations will understand the consequences of war and will work toward world peace. Human beings have only a short life. It only stands to reason, the people of Earth would benefit with the elevation of civilization. Life is precious and a miracle.
— from A Teenager’s Journey in War & Peace by Harry Zaslow
For senior adults
The Zaslows’ presentation was a program of the Senior and Active Adult Department at the JCC of Central New Jersey. Upcoming events include:
- Monday, Oct. 12: Cathy and Michael Chimentis in a cabaret performance, “Broadway Babies”
- Wednesday, Oct. 21: Dr. Eva Mor, who has dedicated her career to bettering the lives of seniors
Trips this fall include:
- Sunday, Oct. 25: Barnes Gallery, Merion Station, Pa., vast private collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art
- Tuesday, Nov. 10: Montclair Art Museum, docent-led tour of the “Cezanne and American Modernism” exhibit
- Thursday, Dec. 3: Lower East Side Tenement Museum and Eldridge Street Synagogue, lunch at Katz’s Deli.
The programs all include lunch and require registration. For full program information and to register, go to www.jccnj.org or contact Barbara Weisbart at 908-889-8800, ext. 207, or bweisbart@jccnj.org.
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