Jewish Pavilion Senior Services Featured Resident

By Hedy Bass

Eva Heide Berman

Eva Heide Berman looks forward to Fridays when Jewish Pavilion Senior Services (JPSS) comes to conduct Shabbat services at Oakmonte Village of Lake Mary. Eva loves the sense of connection and peace the services bring to her life.

It’s a feeling that Eva cherishes all the more because of a harrowing childhood experience she endured. Born in Chemnitz, Germany, in 1935, Eva’s father Martin had been arrested by the Gestapo and held for a year without charges. Eventually, he was released for 24 hours to “get his affairs in order.”

“They were going to send my father to a concentration camp,” says Eva. “My parents left me with my aunt and, with only the clothes on their backs, they left for Belgium, leaving everything behind, including me.”

Eva’s father and mother Gertrud were anxious to reunite with their daughter and hired a smuggler to get her out of Germany. She was given a French boy’s passport, had her hair cut short, and was told not to say a word. It was a terrifying experience for a child just three years old, but the risky plan worked.

“We lived in Brussels for nearly nine months. I was in nursery school when I witnessed Nazis goose-stepping as they marched into town,” says Eva.

With the Nazis advancing, the family was forced to flee yet again. Their journey took them to France, through the Pyrenees Mountains to Spain, where they found passage to Cuba. At first, Jewish refugees were not welcomed. But with the promise not to take work away from Cuban citizens, Eva’s family was allowed to stay. Martin managed to get an old car and turn it into a cab, while Gertrud helped earn money selling homemade orange marmalade.

In 1946, with the help of sponsors in America, the family moved to Miami. Years later, Eva was accepted to the University of Miami and became an educator, teaching Spanish and English literature in high school. It was at the university that she met her husband, Sidney. The couple were married for 64 years until his passing two years ago.

When asked what Jewish Pavilion Senior Services means to her, Eva smiles and says, “It’s important to feel fulfilled. I was raised knowing I was always a target. With JPSS, I have a chance to share with my brethren here. It gives me a sense of belonging, community, and peace.”

This story was originally published in print in Fall 2024.