A ‘Tree’ of Remembrance

ON THE COVER

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Way into his 93 years, Henry Pestka still did not reveal much about his experiences escaping Auschwitz and surviving the Holocaust; but his children, Steve and Linda, have taken on that messaging as a personal mission with expanded and far-reaching goals.

The siblings, raised in Grand Rapids where their father established a real estate development business, decided artistry would be a way to honor their dad, along with other area survivors, while keeping the messages of the Holocaust before the public.

Their specific means, with the associated commitment in time and energy of the Jewish Federation of Grand Rapids, became a relevant sculpture developed by an internationally known artist and placed in a memorial site with the advice and help of representatives at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

The chosen sculpture, Ariel Schlesinger’s Ways to Say Goodbye, will be dedicated at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 30, during an event open to the public and featuring remarks by the sculptor, Pestka family members and community leaders, and enhanced with music by Cantor Rachel Gottlieb Kalmowitz, who grew up in Grand Rapids and now serves at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township.

The monument, an aluminum fig tree with glass shards affixed to its branches, symbolizes the massacre and endurance of Jews during World War II.

The sculpture will be placed, in the presence of the sculptor, along an

The dedication of Ways to Say Goodbye will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 30, at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, 1000 E. Beltline Ave., Grand Rapids. There is no admission fee, but reservations are required by accessing jewishgrandrapids.org. Information: (616) 942-5553, ext. 207.

intimate site between two small hills where visitors can reflect about the statue and the story. Although it can be seen from the pathway joining the statuary throughout the park, there will be a feeling that it is guarded. Earlier, it was placed in a site in England.

“After my father passed away in 2013, my sister and I decided that we wanted to use a portion of [his bequest] for projects dealing with antisemitism, racism and hatred,” said Steve Pestka, who was regularly reminded of the massive loss of paternal family whenever he saw the concentration camp number tattooed on his father’s arm.

“What happened to our father’s family left an impression on us that we lived with our whole lives. We wanted to see if there was something we could do about it because of Holocaust denial and revisionism that continues. We want to help make sure people don’t forget what

— DAVID HOOKER PRESIDENT AND CEO OF MEIJER GARDENS

ON THE COVER

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happened.”

While sponsoring speakers, the Pestkas sought a more enduring project.

A discussion between Linda Pestka and Nicole Katzman, Jewish Federation of Grand Rapids executive director, generated the idea of a sculpture to be placed at the Meijer Gardens, where some 750,000 people visit annually. A committee was established with project leadership that included Dr. Rob Franciosi, English professor at Grand Valley State University, and Margaret Finkelstein, archivist for Federation, Temple Emanuel and Congregation Ahavas Israel.

“I want people to know that it’s true the Holocaust did happen,” said Linda Pestka, who has traveled to Poland with her daughters to view the town where her father had a happy life before the war.

“Most of the Holocaust survivors are dead, and soon there will be only the grandchildren to carry on this message. The most meaningful impact [of this sculpture], so that the Holocaust is not forgotten, is having it in a place that is as real and reputable and honorable as Meijer Gardens.”

Two Pestka grandchildren, Alissa VanderKooi and Nathan Pestka, will give their perspectives as family members representing the legacy carried by survivors’ grandchildren. They knew of their grandfather as a religious role model.

Henry Pestka served as building chairman of Congregation Ahavas Israel, where there is a mural depicting the 6 million victims of Nazi genocide. He was intent on attending the opening ceremony of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

The Meijer Gardens sculpture was chosen by a group that represented the Pestka family, Federation and the Meijer organization. Along the way, it was decided to have an associated website to provide the background of the sculpture and sculptor, pay tribute to survivors who settled and thrived in the Grand Rapids area, and explore the history of the Holocaust.

That website (jhwmi.com) goes live June 30.

“I’m incredibly proud that a community of our size has the spirit of philanthropy and the will to get large projects done,” said Grand Rapids Federation Board Chairman David Alfonso, whose mother’s family left Vienna because of the Nazis and lived in South America before being able to enter the United States.

“This has been a two-year process with the Pestka family, Federation and Meijer Gardens, and we hope it serves as a model for other communities to do something similar in regards to Holocaust education.”

The sculpture joins a 158-acre campus that includes works by Alexander Calder, Marshall Fredericks, Michele Oka Doner, Auguste Rodin and many other world-famous artists.

“We are deeply grateful for this gift, adding such an important work of art to our permanent collection, which is dedicated in memory of Henry Pestka and the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust,” said David Hooker, president and CEO of Meijer Gardens, who will join the roster of speakers attending the dedication.

“Our community will forever benefit from this extraordinary gift that serves to educate and promote peace.”

See an interview with sculptor Ariel Schlesinger in Arts & Life, page 45.