by George J Elbaum

KPMG LLP is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations.  It is multinationally based and operates worldwide. Based in Amstelveen, Netherlands, with executive offices in New York City, KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries with 273,424 employees. It has three lines of services: financial audit, tax, and advisory.  I was recently contacted by Rachel Gelnick, Senior Associate in KMPG’s New York-based Human Capital Advisory group, who asked me to make my presentation about my Holocaust childhood, which I do primarily to high school audiences, to KPMG’s US-based professionals. 

We agreed to do it by video on May 3, 2024 for the newly established Jewish Heritage Employee Resource Group at KPMG which organized this event to commemorate Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. There were 220+ participants with a high rate of engagement resulting in an active Q&A session. The virtual nature also allowed a varied audience from regions across the US and diverse religious backgrounds and ages 

 I particularly appreciated the Q&A session which followed my presentation because the questions reflected the knowledge, intelligence, judgement, and sensitivity of the KPMG personnel.  While 90% of my 400-some talks to date were to high schools as students are old enough to understand what I lived through and survived, yet young enough to still have an open mind to decide whether they want to live their lives on the side of truth and fairness and respect or prejudice and anger and hate.  I thus speak mostly to young audiences where I can make a bigger difference.  However, in this presentation I very much appreciated the Q&A-spawned discussion about our society’s humanity and inhumanity, and that the atrocities of the Holocaust were committed by the best-educated country in Europe. 

I feel that the post-talk discussion benefited everyone, as confirmed by the very rewarding list of comments received afterwards (below). 

1. Thank you for speaking to us adults today and reminding us that the human spirit is resilient, and your story needed to be told. There is power in your words and lessons to be learned.  Thank you. You made a difference in our lives today.
2. I am so very grateful that you chose to speak to adults today. I am not Jewish, but I took my son to a concentration camp on a trip to Germany. I told him it’s important to see what hate unchecked can do. I’m grateful you shared your childhood with us!
3. I just want to thank you for coming to speak with us today. This definitely had me tearing up, so I just want to thank you for your bravery and I hope you continues to speak and change people’s lives.
4. I just wanted to thank you for the time to tell us your story. There were so many points where I was able to feel exactly how you felt in those moments of horror and your appreciation for the “pure luck” that kept you alive. I am so honored to have heard your story today, and will be sure to carry it forward for the rest of my life.
5. We love you, George!
6. As the grandson of two survivors, I am grateful that you were able to join us and tell your story. Your courage is honorable. Wishing you and your wife the best of health and happiness.
7. Given the resurgence of antisemitism, how should we Jews respond to agitators – knowing how cruel and savage antisemitism can become? Government, media, and social structures can fail to protect Jewish community.
8. Thank you so much for sharing your story, and we are fortunate to hear from you.  The founder of my previous company was a survivor who passed before I joined the company, but was forced to hide in an underground hole for 18 months during the Holocaust
9. I just wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude for sharing your story and for your incredible courage. Your willingness to share is truly making a significant impact. Sending warm hugs!
10. How did you end up in small towns in North Carolina & Oregon that I’d never even heard of their existence before?!?! WHAT WAS THERE?
11. After everything you’ve experienced, what is your reaction to our current antisemitic climate and what guidance would you provide to our younger Jewish community experiencing this today?
12. Thank you so much for taking the time today to speak with us. Your story is incredible.
13. I have to know, what exactly was the scene in the movie which changed your mind?
14. What was the movie that you said you were watching with your wife, before deciding to share your story? I need to see it 😀
15. What a remarkable story and I thank you for the impact you are having on our kids today.
16. Do you see any similarities between what is going on now and what was going on in Europe when you were a child? (Follow-up question: What should we be doing? What should we encourage our non-jewish friends to do?)
17. What has your relationship with Judaism looked like over the years?
18. You mentioned that there was one scene in paper clips that inspired you to share your story. What was it that encouraged you?
19. Did the Jewish faith help you during the difficult times in your life?
20. George – I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to speak to us today. My grandfather, also a survivor, passed away last week at age 105. Born in Poland in 1919, my grandfather came to the US in 1948.
21. Are there still things that you don’t talk about?
22. Some are seeing an eerie parallel between the anti-Israel protests happening on college campuses today and the anti-Semitic sentiment in Germany preceding the Holocaust. Do you feel this is an accurate comparison?
23. You’ve accomplished so much in your life and continue to give back to your community. How have you managed to overcome the trauma and experience the worst of humanity, to be able to see the positive in life and make a difference in this world?
24. Thank you for coming and sharing your story. This has been incredibly informative. I’d love to understand why you focus your talks on high school students and what you have found to be most impactful with speaking to students?
25. George, it was an honor to listen to you speak today. Hearing your story and seeing how you are still inspired to give back is truly incredible. Thank you so much for sharing. You certainly are making a difference.
26. Thank you for sharing your poignant story. Your story reminds us why it is important to remember why things happened and it helps understand why a people might respond so forcefully when threatened.
27. Truly incredible, thank you for all you do and for allowing the next generation to bear witness so we never forget.