Rabbi Helga Newmark

Letters to the Wise One: a Holocaust Survivor's Conversations with God Rabbi Helga Newmark

As a Jewish pre-teen in Germany in 1942, Helga Hoflich suffered the unspeakable horrors of the concentration camps during the holocaust while her father and most of her family were exterminated. In 1945, she and her mother who survived were freed by the Russians, and they made their way to America to begin a new life. Helga met and married a young jewelry maker, Eric Newmark, also a holocaust survivor. As Helga Newmark, she and Eric proceeded to raise a family. But memories of the holocaust continued to haunt her resulting in several attempts at suicide. Eventually, she found more spiritual meaning in her life and went on to become a respected principal of a synagogue religious school and then earned a master's degree in social work. But this was not enough for Helga. With so much experience to offer the next generation, she felt called upon to become a rabbi and after extensive study was ordained in the year 2000.