On Tuesday, there was a guest speaker with a story I will never forget. The story was so powerful and had a huge impact on many of the students here. A Nazi survivor met with us and talked about his early life. it was a lot like ours, playing with kids around him, going to school, and just being a regular kid.
In school he learned everything in two languages, Polish and Hebrew. It is hard to imagine doing that, when I can't even do everything in my native language, English. However that life was soon gone and seemingly overnight he became a prisoner without rights. He spoke about going into separated towns and eventually being sent to Auschwitz. His first job there, was dragging dead bodies.
This blew my mind. I can't even begin to imagine at a similar age dragging people's bodies out of the way as an "Everyday Job" like it didn't matter. He went on to explain that he was a very privileged prisoner because he had a talent of singing. It really hit me that everyone who was forced to the camps had something to offer this world and that was taken away from them. What amazed me was the story of how he escaped, it must have taken an unbelievable amount of bravery, courage, sacrifice, and skill. He is truly a talented man.
When he escaped he met with American soldiers and he told a funny story of the attempted languages that the Americans tried. His family was gone so they came to be his new family. It is hard for me to understand what that is like. I cannot relate in a personal way but I can be sympathetic to his experience.
The biggest thing I took away from this is that while it seems like far far in the past, it is not. Terrible events like these things can happen again. I am very glad we learned about this and were able to hear first hand stories from a survivor. We hope with our knowledge we might prevent it from happening again.
In school he learned everything in two languages, Polish and Hebrew. It is hard to imagine doing that, when I can't even do everything in my native language, English. However that life was soon gone and seemingly overnight he became a prisoner without rights. He spoke about going into separated towns and eventually being sent to Auschwitz. His first job there, was dragging dead bodies.
This blew my mind. I can't even begin to imagine at a similar age dragging people's bodies out of the way as an "Everyday Job" like it didn't matter. He went on to explain that he was a very privileged prisoner because he had a talent of singing. It really hit me that everyone who was forced to the camps had something to offer this world and that was taken away from them. What amazed me was the story of how he escaped, it must have taken an unbelievable amount of bravery, courage, sacrifice, and skill. He is truly a talented man.
When he escaped he met with American soldiers and he told a funny story of the attempted languages that the Americans tried. His family was gone so they came to be his new family. It is hard for me to understand what that is like. I cannot relate in a personal way but I can be sympathetic to his experience.
The biggest thing I took away from this is that while it seems like far far in the past, it is not. Terrible events like these things can happen again. I am very glad we learned about this and were able to hear first hand stories from a survivor. We hope with our knowledge we might prevent it from happening again.