Holocaust Survivor Ladany: Going to Remember

He survived the Holocaust, narrowly escaped death at the 1972 Olympics – and to this day continues to commemorate: Shaul Ladany. Every day he thinks of his murdered relatives, says the 85-year-old in an interview tagesschau.de.

The city of Novara in northern Italy last Sunday: Hundreds of runners are in the starting area of ​​the “Run for Memory”, a memorial run for the victims of the Holocaust, organized by the country’s Jewish communities and organizations. At their head, Shaul Ladany gets ready for the track. The 85-year-old Holocaust survivor did not let the corona pandemic stop him from accepting the invitation to Italy.

“The Holocaust has no meaning for many people. For some, the Holocaust comes to mind maybe once a year on International Day of Remembrance. I live with the memory every day,” says the Israeli in an interview tagesschau.de.

“Grandparents Made into Soap”

Ladany was born in 1936 in Belgrade. After the German invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, his parents fled to Hungary with Shaul and two siblings. Three years later, Nazi henchmen deported the Jews from Hungary to the German concentration and extermination camps. His grandparents were murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz and processed into soap, as Ladany ruthlessly puts it. Many other relatives and friends are also killed.

Together with his parents and siblings, Ladany was deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The prisoners would have had to stand for hours in the rain and cold. Survive roll calls, again and again. The German soldiers had constantly miscalculated. But Ladany persevered. He survived. His family is among the prisoners who are saved through negotiations between Hungarian and Swiss Jewish organizations and the SS.

In 1944 the family was actually able to emigrate and saved themselves in Switzerland. After the end of the war, they return to Yugoslavia – only to emigrate to the newly founded Israel. Here Ladany becomes a successful scientist and athlete.

“Remind me of my grandparents every day”

“My sister Martha, who I talk to on the phone every day, is my adoptive sister,” says Ladany. “She was brought to us when she was six months old after her family and 2000 other Jews were massacred in January 1942. Yes, I remember daily my maternal grandparents and two cousins ​​who were gassed in Auschwitz, as well as the most of the 28 family members who perished during the Holocaust.”

Some of the furniture in his home belonged to the murdered relatives, and he emphasizes that fact to visitors. “In my study I stand every day in front of the painting showing our barracks and the fences around us with the watchtower, which a painter gave and dedicated to my late father, with the inscription ‘Bergen-Belsen must not be forgotten'”, tells Ladany. The inscription “Survivors of the night of the pogrom” is on the gravestone of his deceased wife, because Ladany says she was never able to forget this trauma when she was four and a half years old.

Rally of Holocaust deniers

The “Run for Mem” in Italy was supposed to take place in Florence in 2021 but had to be canceled due to the pandemic. “At the same time, a rally by Holocaust deniers was taking place in Novara, the city of the first Jewish settlement in Italy,” says Ladany. That’s why the run is now taking place here. It is a pleasure for him to take part – despite the difficulties of the journey and the risk posed by Corona, especially for older people.

In his book “King of the Road: From Bergen-Belsen to the Olympic Games” Ladany tells the story of his life – and that includes not only the terrible experiences, but also the sport: Ladany took part in Israel’s first marathon and set national and world records in walking. He still competes to this day, including the Tel Aviv Marathon, where he starts in the middle of the night, and in 2020 finished as a walker in the late morning four-hour runners.

Survived terrorist attack in Munich

In 1972 Ladany even traveled to the Olympic Games as a walker for Israel. The trip turned into a trauma: Palestinian terrorists ambushed the Israeli team and killed eleven people. Ladany survived.

In Germany of all places, Ladany narrowly escapes death again. Nevertheless, he keeps traveling to the country of the perpetrators, speaks in the Lower Saxony state parliament, visits the memorial in Bergen-Belsen, which has an exhibition about him; takes part in the German Maccabi Games. “I’m a Zionist,” emphasizes Ladany. For him, the State of Israel is a life insurance policy for Jews worldwide, which is the decisive difference from before. “And that’s exactly what needs to be explained and said to the younger generation.”

Next goal: marathons

Ladany successfully masters the ten kilometers of the Novara commemorative run. In February he wants to compete again in the marathon in Tel Aviv. “Despite my old age, I’m unfortunately not yet able to look into the future,” he says about the chances of actually implementing this plan. Ladany knows about his age, thinks from day to day, from kilometer to kilometer, from one step to the next, which is always a bit difficult – but he always has his big goals firmly in mind.

He trains every day; He is driven by his conviction that sport brings people together and can thus break down hatred and prejudice. “Individual sport is particularly well suited for this,” says Ladany. In team sports, groups would always compete against each other – and this often means that individuals are only seen as part of a specific group.

Only in individual sports is every single person seen for themselves – and that’s how true friendship can develop. As with the run in Italy, Ladany is leading the way to remember – and to bring people together through sport.