PA daily reports on a Jewish Holocaust survivor who became Muslim and married an Arab
Headline: "Jewess who married an Arab reveals, 52 years later, that she is a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust"
"Helen Brashatsky, a Jewess, lived in the [Israeli] Arab town of Umm Al-Fahm after marrying Ahmed Jabarin and converting to Islam. For years she concealed the secret that she was a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, having been born in the Auschwitz camp in Poland – until she decided recently to tell her children and grandchildren about it. Helen Brashatsky, 70, has several names in addition to her real name. In Israel she is called Leah, while amongst the family in Arab Umm Al-Fahm [she is] – Leila Jabarin, and 'Um Raja'…
Helen's son, Nader Jabarin, said: 'My mother used to cry every time Holocaust Remembrance Day came, and she watched all the ceremonies related to it on Israeli TV. We didn't understand why. She would cry and sob. We left her alone at home, and didn't know why she behaved like that.'
Nader said, 'She gave comfort to herself and to us when she revealed her secret. Now we will understand her better. She would go crazy when there was war, explosions, or killing of Palestinians or Israelis, and would say, 'Why can't they live together?' Her brothers' children are Israeli Jews, while her children are Arabs. She lives with mixed feelings, because she fears for her Arab children and fears for the children of her Jewish brothers.'
Nader added, 'We have all had to deal with the problem of serving in the army, because according to Judaism, a Jewish woman remains Jewish even if she converts, and her children remain Jews. I received a summons to the army and I told the officer, 'You want me to kill my brothers? I'm a Muslim, not a Jew.'"
"Helen Brashatsky, a Jewess, lived in the [Israeli] Arab town of Umm Al-Fahm after marrying Ahmed Jabarin and converting to Islam. For years she concealed the secret that she was a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, having been born in the Auschwitz camp in Poland – until she decided recently to tell her children and grandchildren about it. Helen Brashatsky, 70, has several names in addition to her real name. In Israel she is called Leah, while amongst the family in Arab Umm Al-Fahm [she is] – Leila Jabarin, and 'Um Raja'…
Helen's son, Nader Jabarin, said: 'My mother used to cry every time Holocaust Remembrance Day came, and she watched all the ceremonies related to it on Israeli TV. We didn't understand why. She would cry and sob. We left her alone at home, and didn't know why she behaved like that.'
Nader said, 'She gave comfort to herself and to us when she revealed her secret. Now we will understand her better. She would go crazy when there was war, explosions, or killing of Palestinians or Israelis, and would say, 'Why can't they live together?' Her brothers' children are Israeli Jews, while her children are Arabs. She lives with mixed feelings, because she fears for her Arab children and fears for the children of her Jewish brothers.'
Nader added, 'We have all had to deal with the problem of serving in the army, because according to Judaism, a Jewish woman remains Jewish even if she converts, and her children remain Jews. I received a summons to the army and I told the officer, 'You want me to kill my brothers? I'm a Muslim, not a Jew.'"