To say that Phillip Maisel is a remarkable human would be an understatement. Born in 1922 in Vilna, modern-day Lithuania, Phillip has survived conditions that few people can fathom. And, extraordinarily, he has used those experiences to fuel the service of others.
In his 2021 book, The Keeper of Miracles, the author shares his recollections and lessons in a memoir focusing on his life during and after the Holocaust.
Before the Second World War broke out in 1939, Phillip enjoyed a pleasant childhood, one that came at a time of relative stability. I ask if, during those happy years before Adolf Hitler’s army invaded his country and imposed severe laws on the Jewish citizens, he could ever have imagined what was to follow.
“Nobody could ever imagine the changes and complete disruption to our lives,” he recounts.
Through our modern lens, it’s hard to understand how this kind of discrimination and oppression went on unchecked. But Phillip explains that those who weren’t Jewish turned a blind eye to the restrictions, such as the compulsory wearing of the yellow star, rather than standing up for their Jewish friends and neighbours.
“Very few people came to our defence and the majority of non-Jewish inhabitants remained indifferent or co-operated with the Nazis.”
The Nazis arrived in Phillip’s hometown in 1941 and established the infamous Vilna Ghetto. Along with the rest of the local Jewish population, Phillip was forced into the Ghetto, where he lived for two years. Although disease and starvation were rife within those crowded walls, Phillip was able to survive his day-to-day life.
“There was a rich cultural life in the Ghetto,” he says, “which helped me cope emotionally.”
Following the liquidation of the Ghetto, Phillip was sent away to several labour and concentration camps. In The Keeper of Miracles, he remembers the extremely cruel conditions of camps such as Dautmergen in Germany.
As Phillip worked tirelessly for the Nazis, it was impossible to maintain faith that things would be okay in the end: “There was no hope for a positive outcome most of the time—I thought each day would be my last.”
Though it seems impossible to identify a silver lining in a story like this, Phillip’s being able to survive his toughest experiences during the war did set a standard of strength and resilience for the rest of his life.
“The fact that I managed to survive such difficult conditions does help me cope with other difficulties I faced later on in life,” he says.
Phillip endured some of the most atrocious conditions during the infamous Death Marches orchestrated by the Nazis to evacuate the camps and keep their prisoners from an Allied rescue. In 1945, the year marking the death of Hitler and the end of the war, Phillip was liberated while on a Death March.
in 1949, he reunited with his twin sister, Bella, and relocated to Australia. He started a family of his own and continued working hard to provide for them, though his experiences during the Holocaust were never forgotten.
Together with his late wife Miriam, Phillip travelled all over the world as a free man. While he witnessed many amazing sights, he never returned to his hometown: “I intentionally did not return to Vilna so that my positive childhood memories would remain intact.”
For more than 30 years in his later life, Phillip volunteered with the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne as the Director of the Testimonies project, recording the stories of other survivors. Indeed, this work has rendered him the Keeper of Miracles. Understandably, Bella found it too emotionally distressing to be associated with the centre.
I wonder whether the process of listening to other survivors and their descendants helped Phillip to heal from the trauma of his own experiences.
“Rather than help me heal, I developed a defence mechanism of being a machine which records the trauma in testimonials of other survivors.”
Though Phillip experienced unspeakable cruelty during the Holocaust, there are also some inspiring accounts of compassion in his book. On his march from Frommer concentration camp, for instance, non-Jewish inmates stepped forward with him during the Jewish selection process so that the Nazis could not identify Phillip as a Jew and murder him.
In The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank, another victim of the Holocaust, famously said, “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” As someone who has experienced immense cruelty at the hands of others, as well as true kindness, how does Phillip feel about this?
“I fully agree with this statement.”
And after all that he’s experienced in his 99 years, is he optimistic about the future?
“In the present conditions it may seem contradictory, but I am still an optimist and have positive hopes for the future.”
The Keeper of Miracles tells a personal account of a very important story. As someone who has witnessed first-hand the shaping of modern history, I want to know what Phillip would say to the next generation battling hate and prejudice that still lingers in the world.
“My advice would be to learn to distinguish false ideas from true ones, and to stand up for the truth.”
Interviewed by Vanessa Elle
Instagram: @vanessaellewrites
The Keeper of Miracles was published by Pan Macmillan in 2021. Read our review of The Keeper of Miracles here.
On Tuesday 31 August 2021, the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne is hosting a free online event in Phillip’s honour: Honouring Phillip Maisel OAM. Read more about the event and grab your e-tickets here.
More News
