Fay Malkin, Holocaust Survivor, In a Program to Commemorate Kristallnacht

Teaneck High School was privileged to host Mrs. Fay Malkin on November 29, marking the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass, the infamous pogrom of 1938 which sparked the fires of the Holocaust.

Mrs. Malkin, a child survivor of the Holocaust, was featured in an award-winning documentary called No. 4 Street of Our Lady.  The documentary followed Mrs. Malkin’s return to the city in Poland where she had been hidden as a 4 year old in a hay loft above a pig sty.

Close to 300 students sat spell-bound as Mrs. Malkin told the story of her rescue by a Polish Catholic woman who risked her life to shelter and feed the 16 Jews who were escaping ghettoes and concentration camps.

An excerpt from the documentary served to bring the bleak era of 80 years earlier into sharp focus as students had a first-hand look at the tiny, dark space where the 18 refugees had silently played chess, their only pastime for almost two years.  

We are indebted to Mrs. Malkin for sharing the painful story of her survival with us, and her grief over the loss of her father, who was one of the earliest victims of the Nazis.  We are especially grateful for her thoughtful and attentive answers to the many questions that the students posed.

The program, which coincided with the thirty day anniversary of the Pittsburgh murders, was one of the most memorable in recent years.   We thank Mrs. Malkin again for her determination to speak to students, so that they too can become part of a living chain of witnesses to the Holocaust.