Beno Ruso and Roza Kamhi: The years make their own

Beno and Roza fell in love in the 1930s and were married in 1946. In between, the vast majority of Macedonia's Jews--more than 7,400--were deported to Treblinka. Not one returned alive. Beno and Roza, and several of their teenage friends, joined the partisans, grabbed rifles and fought back. When the war ended in 1945, Beno was 24-years-old. He was also a general. This story takes us all the way to 2011--through the death of Tito, the break-up of Yugoslavia, and the opening of the largest Holocaust Museum in southern Europe. That makes this a great film for teachers of Jewish history, Holocaust and contemporary history.

Beno Ruso and Roza Kamhi were interviewed for Centropa by Rachel Chanin in 2005. This film, based on those interviews, was commissioned by The Holocaust Memorial Center of the Jews from Macedonia in Skopje, where it is being shown in the new museum. The film was made in Macedonia by filmmakers Stojan Vujcic and Apostal Tnokovski, with two remarkable actors reading the parts of Beno and Roza. 

Study Guides

LINKS TO GENERAL HISTORIES

Many countries in the Balkans offer wildly different narratives of the twentieth century. Centropa has therefore chosen links to articles on the region that are decidedly neutral.

Find here a timeline of the Balkans in the twentieth century provided by the BBC.

The CIA publishes fact books for over two hundred countries. Read about Macedonia here.

Lonely Planet provides an overview of Macedonia during WWII and the twentieth century in a broader historical context.

In his article Partisans: War in the Balkans 1941-1945, Stephen Hart offers a more in-depth account of wartime violence in Yugoslavia. Find it here and learn about how resistance to Hitler led to terrifying brutality.

JEWISH LIFE IN MACEDONIA

A significant proportion of the Jewish community in Macedonia are descended from the Sephardic Jews who fled persecution in Spain and Portugal in the fifteenth century. Read about the history of the Macedonia Jewry here.

In the film, Roza talks about the Holocaust Memorial Centre for the Jews of Macedonia. Explore this page for more information.

Learn about the Jewish history of Bitola in this Yad Vashem article. When Macedonia was part of the Ottoman Empire, Bitola was called Monastir, a name that the Jewish community there continued to use until the 1940s. Here is a brief overview of the Ottoman Empire.

Macedonia was occupied by Bulgaria during the Second World War. During this time, incredibly harsh restrictions were placed against Macedonian Jews, and huge numbers were deported, including 7,125 from Bitola, almost the entire community. More information about the Holocaust in Bitola/Monastir can be found here. Of those deported from Macedonia, most were taken to Treblinka in Poland.

BITOLA/MONASTIR

There has been a Jewish presence in Monastir since it was part of the Roman Empire, but the community grew in 1492 and 1496 following the expulsion of Spanish and Portuguese Jews. Learn more here.

Roza and Beno were part of the local Hashomer Hatzair group. To learn more about this youth group organisation, visit their website. Additionally, this website has more information about Jewish youth groups in Bitola.

Find out more about the Jewish community of Monastir on this page.

Across Europe adults in occupied territories were required to provide photographs for identification papers. This resulted in great collections of images documenting every face from entire towns or regions, though few of these survive. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum possess one of the few remaining collections, of the now lost Jewish community of Monastir/Bitola. Read about the collection here, and view it here.

Read Centropa interview with Adam Sadikario, who also grew up in Bitola and engaged in resistance during the war.

Lesson plans for this film

7 results
Title Language For grades Documents
The Years Make Their Own: Teaching ESL/History
History
en 8
Lesson Plan | The Years Make Their Own
History
 Centropa lessonCentropa film: The Years Make Their OwnTeacher: Biljana ShotarovskaSchool: Blaze Koneski Primary school – Skopje, Macedonia Overview information Type of school: Public schoolSubject taught: Civic educationGrade level of students: 9th grade (aged 14-15)Total durations: Two 40 minute lessons   Lesson aims/objectives:- To define the terms witness and dignity- To increase students’ awareness for helping people when life and dignity is in danger- To identify the conditions/reasons that put human life and dignity in danger- To define/recognize righteous gentile-  To understand that the Holocaust is a systematic destruction of human life and the worst example of basic human rights violation-  To increase students’ awareness for empathy Resources- Centropa web page www.centropa.org- Link for the Centropa film The Years Make Their Ownhttp://www.centropa.org/centropa-cinema/beno-and-roza-kamhi-years-make-their-       own?language=mk&subtitle_language=en- Civic education text book- Printed material for group work- LCD Projector, computer, screen, speakers- Flip Chart Lesson one IntroductionActivity 1: Teacher discusses with the students as a class International Human Rights Law and Geneva Convention. He/she writes the following questions on the board:a)     When was the International Human Rights Law designed?b)    How and why was the International Human Rights Law designed?c)     When was Geneva Convention designed?d)    Whom does the Geneva Convention refer to?   Main part Activity 1: The teacher introduces the film as a story from Bitola that happened before and during the Second World War which is an example of human rights violation.Activity 2: The students are split in 5 groups. Each group is given printed material with words/hints related to the part of the film they will discuss as a group after watching the film.Group one:  - Jewish life in Bitola life before the Holocaust                       - Beno and Roza’s family life                       - Beno and Roza’s social life in Bitola before the Holocaust Group two: - World War II in Macedonia                      - Anti- Semitic measures of the Bulgarian authorities in Macedonia                     - International Human Rights violation in Macedonia during World War II                     -  The Holocaust as the most horrifying example of violation of all basic human rights Group three - The terms witness and human dignity                        -   The role of Stojan Siljanovski during the Holocaust                        -  Stojan’s reward after the War                        - Your role during the Holocaust?Group 4        – Beno and Roza during the War                        - Partisan movement in Macedonia                        - Estreja Ovadija Group 5 – Macedonian Jews after World War II                 - The Jewish Community in ex-Yugoslavia                 - The Jewish community in Macedonia today Activity 3: The students watch the filmActivity 4: The students work in groups on their pre-watching given task Conclusion Activity 1: A representative from each of the groups presents the group work discussion to the larger group/the class Homework: Students write short texts on the topic of their group work activity using Centropa web site bios and interviews from Macedonia. Students print Centropa old family photos related to the topic of the text.           Lesson two Introduction Activity 1: The teacher introduces the lesson and students tasks: the 5 groups of students from lesson one make a panel consisting of their homework texts and their printed Centropa old family photos. Main partActivity 1: Students work on their panelsActivity 2: Students present their work group panels to the class ConclusionActivity 1: The students together with their teacher display panels in the school hall as an exhibition.      
en 9
Aktivnosti- OU Nikola Petrov Rusinski, Berovo
History
“THE JEWISH LIFE THROUGH THE HOLOCAUST “ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5hSsXfKaFAØ  Прво им дадов на учениците веб страни за извлекување некои информации поврзани со периодот на Холокаустот:1.www.ppuorg.uk/genocide – Магдалена Алаѓозовска 13 год.2.www.preventorprotest.org- Викторија Зелничка 13год.3.www.usip.org/programs/iniatives/genocide-prevention-task-forse – Анастасија Шутевска 13 год.4.www.hmai.si.edu – Александар Мирчовски 13 год.5.www.armenian- genocide.org – Душко Велински 13 год.6.www.yale.edu/cgp- Давид Калпачки 13 год.7.www.darfurdgenocide.com- Анастасија Велинска 13 год.8.www.infoukes.com/history/famine/index- Ана Марија Трнковска 13 год.Учениците ги разгледуваат веб страните и извлекуваат поважни информацииПреку испринтаните слики ги споредуваат информациите дадени од Интернет  Ø  Учениците преку овие веб страни истражуваа и ги извлекуваа главните информации и пишуваа есеи со теми поврзани со Евреите и нивниот живот во периодот на Холокаустот.Следниве ученици ги напишаа есеите со овие теми:1 .Александар Мирчовски-  „Inaugurating of president Roosevelt”2. Ана Марија Трнковска- “The Artificial Famine”3. Давид Калпачки – “The CGP ( Cambodian genocide proximately) of 1994- 20134. Душко Велински – “Armenian Genocide”5. Aнастасија Шутевска – “The Genocide”6. Љупка Мадевска – “The history of Jewish people”7. Магдалена Фиданска – “Holocaust and genocide today”8. Викторија Зелничка – „Holocaust“ Ø  Учениците на хамер залепија слики од животот, работата и мачењето на Евреите за време во периодот на ХолокаустотØ  Потоа четири ученика напишаа есеи на македонски јазик со овие теми:1. Стефанија Калпачка - “Љубовта помеѓу Барак и Марта“ 15 год.2. Љупка Мадевска- “ Холокаустот и страдањата на Евреите за време на Втората Светска Војна“ 14 год.3. Магдалена Алаѓозовска „Измачувањата на Евреите за време на Холокаустот“ 13 год.4.Магдалена Фиданска “Животот на Евреите“ 15 год.5.Анита Поповска- цртеж 15 год.6.Викторија Зелничка- добитник на цртежтрета награда 13 год. By:Sanja GastarskaEngllish teacher at Nikola Rusinski primary school in Berovo, MacedoniaWebRep currentVote  noRatingnoWeight            
mk 7
Exploring Bitola through the film about Beno and Roza
History
The city as an interactive classroom.A research project about Jewish life in Bitola before WW2, consisting of six 40 min. lessons and centering around the film "The years make their own" about the life of Beno Ruso and Roza Kamhi.
en 6
Истражувајќи ја Битола преку филмот за Бено и Роза
History
The city as an interactive classroom.A research project about Jewish life in Bitola before WW2, consisting of six 40 min. lessons and centering around the film "The years make their own" about the life of Beno Ruso and Roza Kamhi.
mk 6
Using the Beno and Roza film with Macedonian students
History
This lesson is intended for Macedonian students in the final year of primary education (aged 14-15) The content of this lesson is part of the civic education curriculum, topic – International Human Rights research.  
en 9
Centropa Biography Film/Stolpersteine Assignment
History, other projects
In this project, students work in pairs to read Centropa biographies, create a 5 minute video about the interviewee, and design a Stolpersteine (commemorative stone) for them.
en 6, 7, 8, 9