The light he carries still guides us: A tribute to Ike Alterman BEM

Over the last 5 years, Itzick and I have spent countless hours together talking to thousands of people across Manchester and the North West, telling his life story of survival as part of The Fed’s My Voice Project.

Today is the last time I will speak alongside him – but not with him.

Itzick Yankel Alterman BEM, or Ike, as he was often known, was an incredible man who, to me, was both a father and a brother – someone who inspired me and whom I love dearly.

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Whilst we stand here today to accompany him on his final journey on this earth – and we are heartbroken that he is no longer with us – I believe we must also celebrate his life, his resilience, and his contribution to the Manchester Jewish community, the Jewish people, our city, and society as a whole.

In the 97 years since he was a little boy in Ozarow, Poland, surrounded by his loving parents, grandparents, siblings, and cousins, eating “farfel mit arbes”, “fusnogge”, and “cholent”, Itzick experienced both the worst and best of humankind.

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The worst was, of course, experiencing the brutality of the ghetto and the utter hell of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he witnessed the daily selections from the trains, the gas chambers and the crematoria. He survived this, other concentration camps and a death march. These are things we cannot – and never will – be able to comprehend.

The best was the care and rehabilitation he received from the wonderful men and women at Windermere, where he formed lifelong friendships with fellow survivors. He was always so delighted to tell people, “I am a Windermere Boy.”

Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser, in his book Something to Say, writes, “When a truly righteous person, one with great wisdom, kindness and integrity, lives in an area, his presence is felt and reflected throughout that place. The influence of a great person is not bounded by the four walls of his home.  It shines forth and permeates his community. “

This was Itzick. When several of his fellow survivors were unable to continue their own stories, he picked up the baton in his late eighties. He understood it was now HIS duty to bear witness, to educate and to share his powerful message that hate is a disease. He turned suffering into strength.

Itzick inspired people wherever he went. When he spoke to schools, football clubs and other organisations, they wrote him messages like this:

“Ike’s story is one of pain, trauma, and suffering. It is also one of hope, forgiveness, inspiration, tolerance, and love.

The world needs more people like Ike to keep the experiences of the Holocaust alive and at the forefront of our minds.

We all have a responsibility to do more.”

“Thank you, Ike, for delivering this very emotional story. You are an inspiration to many people. You are also one of the strongest people I have ever met because it wouldn’t have been easy to deliver that story. Thank you.”

“Incredible and inspiring talk. To hear the mental strength he had during those awful times is incredible, and he has taught me many valuable lessons. A brilliant, incredible, and inspiring man. Some of the things he went through, and the fact he had the resilience and strength to come to England, have a family and start a successful business, are absolutely incredible.”

Andy Burnham, the Metro Mayor of Greater Manchester, wrote this in his foreword for Ike’s My Voice book:

“I consider it one of the greatest privileges of my life to have spent time in the company of Ike Alterman.

To hear him tell his story in his own words is to be in the presence of true greatness. To take in the enormity of what he lived through is one of the most profoundly moving experiences it is possible to have.”

There is no doubt that the world is a better place for Itzick having been with us. His impact has been immeasurable.

My solemn promise to you, Itzick, is that I will continue to tell your story anywhere and anytime to as many people as possible.

But Itzick was also funny, playful, and mischievous. He loved to play the keyboard, he loved to sing and dance, he loved to play golf, and he loved children.  Whenever he was with mine and Adele’s grandchildren, he played, he sang and he had a smile from ear to ear. When he said the Shema to Ilan and Jace the night before their brit milahs, everyone of us present understood we were witnessing the unbroken chain of the Jewish people’s existence despite the Nazis’ efforts. What an honour.

And I was immensely privileged to have the “zechut” – the merit – of repaying Itzick by being able to say “Vidduy” to him as he prepared to leave our world.

But Itzick was most proud of two things. His family and his name.

His daughters and grandchildren were the pride of his life, and he often said that all he wanted to do was give them a better life than he had – and firstly with his dear, late wife, Myra, and then with his devoted partner of 28 years, Diane, with whom he rebuilt his life a second time – he has done that.

And his name has, throughout his life, been associated with honesty, integrity, and inspiration. Whether it was the diamond bourse in London or the jewellers of Manchester – everyone trusted him. And in his later years his name became synonymous with a relentless drive for Holocaust education and remembrance, so much so that he was cherished by the Princess of Wales and recognised by the Manchester Jewish community, the Borough of Bury and King Charles with honours.

In the last weeks of his life, Itzick was cared for with love and tenderness by my colleagues at Heathlands. Even though they did not really know him, you could see they knew they were in the presence of greatness. That was Itzick’s aura.

83 years on from last seeing his mother, brother and sister as they were being marched at Nazi gunpoint out of the ghetto square in Ostrowiec and taken to their deaths at Treblinka, Itzick will be reunited with them again. Not a day has gone by when he has not thought about them, and he felt a weight was lifted from his shoulders when he visited Treblinka several years ago and said Kaddish for them there.

He will now also be able to tell his father something he had wanted to do for decades – that he forgives him for abandoning him in the ghetto.

He will also be reunited with his dear son-in-law Gerald and, of course, Myra, his first love and whose support gave Itzick the drive to be the success he was as he rebuilt his life in Manchester.

Unlike Itzick’s parents and siblings, he can have a “Kevurat Yisroel” – a Jewish burial – and although, because of his experiences, his faith did, understandably, waver from time to time, he was immensely proud of the fact – and he always said it – that he “was born a Jew and will die a Jew”.

Itzick might have been small in stature, but he was a giant of a man.

Itzick, my dear friend, my hero – your My Voice book was called “Rest Their Souls”.

May your special soul now also rest in peace alongside those of the family you loved – and missed – so much.

• Raphi Bloom is the Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications at The Fed