Mary Weinrib, 95
July 8, 2021 9:50 PM Subscribe
Mary Weinrib, born Manya Rubenstein in 1925, survived a forced labour camp in Starachowice, then Auschwitz, and then Bergen-Belsen. She passed away on July 2, 2021. She tells her story in this oral history interview available via the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Her son, Geddy Lee of Rush, tells his parents' Holocaust survival story in this 2019 radio interview.
Her son, Geddy Lee of Rush,
They didn't teach me that the second comma in a phrase like this could represent a "record scratch" noise, but today I learned that!
.
posted by hippybear at 10:26 PM on July 8, 2021 [20 favorites]
They didn't teach me that the second comma in a phrase like this could represent a "record scratch" noise, but today I learned that!
.
posted by hippybear at 10:26 PM on July 8, 2021 [20 favorites]
May her memory be for blessing.
Here is a link to her obituary: Mary Weinrib.
The family, in the obituary, has requested that donations be made to the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies. (The link goes to the Canadian site, but I had no problem making a donation with my US-based debit card.)
Last but not least, here's a podcast interview with Donna Halper, who is a very good friend of Geddy's, and also knew Mary. She also 'discovered' Rush for the US market. Here, she talks about both Geddy and Mary. Ms. Halper, who is also Jewish, has some wonderful insights. Donna Halper is Rush's Mom.
posted by spinifex23 at 10:39 PM on July 8, 2021 [7 favorites]
Here is a link to her obituary: Mary Weinrib.
The family, in the obituary, has requested that donations be made to the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies. (The link goes to the Canadian site, but I had no problem making a donation with my US-based debit card.)
Last but not least, here's a podcast interview with Donna Halper, who is a very good friend of Geddy's, and also knew Mary. She also 'discovered' Rush for the US market. Here, she talks about both Geddy and Mary. Ms. Halper, who is also Jewish, has some wonderful insights. Donna Halper is Rush's Mom.
posted by spinifex23 at 10:39 PM on July 8, 2021 [7 favorites]
Clarification: Rush the band, not Rush Limbaugh.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:22 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:22 AM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
So glad you posted this! A musician friend of mine who's a huge fan of Rush, had the chance to meet her a few times, and posted her story and this interview a couple of days ago along with some pictures with her. I just thought of it as an interesting story and tribute to someone he respected. I hate to admit it, but the full impact was lost on me - as someone with Holocaust survivors in my own family, it's remarkably easy to forget that for most people these stories aren't commonplace - and they still need sharing whenever you can. Maybe especially now.
.
posted by Mchelly at 5:22 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
.
posted by Mchelly at 5:22 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
.
posted by whatevernot at 6:03 AM on July 9, 2021
posted by whatevernot at 6:03 AM on July 9, 2021
From the radio interview, both her mom and her sister survived the camp.
Her son tells the chilling story how the guards would have the prisoners stand in line every day and let them go left-right-left-tight - to work or to die. And her mother would make them separate so they either all lived or all died.
Incredible family.
(.)
posted by M. at 6:23 AM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
Her son tells the chilling story how the guards would have the prisoners stand in line every day and let them go left-right-left-tight - to work or to die. And her mother would make them separate so they either all lived or all died.
Incredible family.
(.)
posted by M. at 6:23 AM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
.
(They didn't teach me that the second comma in a phrase like this could represent a "record scratch" noise, but today I learned that!
Right? A local alt right/Qanon devotee in my area is a huge Rush fan, and has also favorably retweeted literal Nazis.)
posted by eviemath at 6:37 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
(They didn't teach me that the second comma in a phrase like this could represent a "record scratch" noise, but today I learned that!
Right? A local alt right/Qanon devotee in my area is a huge Rush fan, and has also favorably retweeted literal Nazis.)
posted by eviemath at 6:37 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
.
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 8:50 AM on July 9, 2021
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 8:50 AM on July 9, 2021
I clutch the wire fence until my fingers bleed
A wound that will not heal, a heart that cannot feel
Hoping that the horror will recede
Hoping that tomorrow, we'll all be freed
Red Sector A
posted by jazon at 9:26 AM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
A wound that will not heal, a heart that cannot feel
Hoping that the horror will recede
Hoping that tomorrow, we'll all be freed
Red Sector A
posted by jazon at 9:26 AM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
The family, in the obituary, has requested that donations be made to the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies. (The link goes to the Canadian site, but I had no problem making a donation with my US-based debit card.)
She sounds like an amazing person. That said: the family might not be aware, but the local Friends of Simon Wiesenthal in Canada/Toronto has been remarkably un-helpful with any local efforts to oppose the far-right and anti-Semitism. At this point, they seem to exist just to raise money for the sake of raising money and aren't active in supporting efforts to counter hate in Canada.
The local Holocaust Education Centre, in the meantime, has been suffering due to lack of funding because of COVID.
posted by jb at 9:28 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
She sounds like an amazing person. That said: the family might not be aware, but the local Friends of Simon Wiesenthal in Canada/Toronto has been remarkably un-helpful with any local efforts to oppose the far-right and anti-Semitism. At this point, they seem to exist just to raise money for the sake of raising money and aren't active in supporting efforts to counter hate in Canada.
The local Holocaust Education Centre, in the meantime, has been suffering due to lack of funding because of COVID.
posted by jb at 9:28 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
May her memory be a blessing.
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:45 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:45 AM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
I watched the 2010 documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage like, a week ago (it's great!) and she had a good amount of camera time. Lovely and charming and very proud of her son and his friends.
She and Geddy are also in an episode of Dave Grohl's new series with his mom, which I haven't seen yet - but those are two boys who love their mom and I expect it to be just as interesting and lovely.
posted by ApathyGirl at 10:58 AM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
She and Geddy are also in an episode of Dave Grohl's new series with his mom, which I haven't seen yet - but those are two boys who love their mom and I expect it to be just as interesting and lovely.
posted by ApathyGirl at 10:58 AM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
Thank you for this, I had no idea. My grandmother was also a Bergen-Belson survivor who moved to Toronto after the war, and her story is similar.
posted by Valancy Rachel at 11:22 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Valancy Rachel at 11:22 AM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
A local alt right/Qanon devotee in my area is a huge Rush fan, and has also favorably retweeted literal Nazis.
The cognitive dissonance of right-wing Rush fans never ceases to amaze me. I wonder if he knows that St Peart became, in his own words, "a straight ticket Democrat" when he became a US citizen? He said he was a bleeding heart libertarian and took the libertarian principle to mean "it was an affirmation that it’s all right to totally believe in something and live for it and not compromise." Which makes sense I guess to a young artist whose being told what to do by the suits at the record company.
I haven't checked the links above but I did see an interview with Geddy where he said he took his mother and sister to the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Once there, Mary Weinrib raised her arms high in defiance while going through the gate because "she won and they lost". Rest in power indeed.
posted by Ber at 12:20 PM on July 9, 2021 [14 favorites]
The cognitive dissonance of right-wing Rush fans never ceases to amaze me. I wonder if he knows that St Peart became, in his own words, "a straight ticket Democrat" when he became a US citizen? He said he was a bleeding heart libertarian and took the libertarian principle to mean "it was an affirmation that it’s all right to totally believe in something and live for it and not compromise." Which makes sense I guess to a young artist whose being told what to do by the suits at the record company.
I haven't checked the links above but I did see an interview with Geddy where he said he took his mother and sister to the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Once there, Mary Weinrib raised her arms high in defiance while going through the gate because "she won and they lost". Rest in power indeed.
posted by Ber at 12:20 PM on July 9, 2021 [14 favorites]
Yeah, it's in that radio interview. Since it's fresh in my mind: he said the trip was for the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Belsen, and she said that standing there with her children made her feel like she finally "won the war."
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:45 PM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:45 PM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
.
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 3:13 PM on July 11, 2021
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 3:13 PM on July 11, 2021
This article came out a few days ago, but is an excellent breakdown of Mary's incredible life: Mother of Rush singer Geddy Lee survived Auschwitz.
posted by spinifex23 at 12:27 PM on July 21, 2021
posted by spinifex23 at 12:27 PM on July 21, 2021
« Older Bring back the orange pussycat we all miss! | Spin machines: the curious history of video games... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by RakDaddy at 10:15 PM on July 8, 2021 [11 favorites]