by George J Elbaum

Mark Day School in San Rafael is a private school with 375 students in grades K-8 with typical (for California) demographics: White 62%, 2-or-more-races 26%, Hispanics 7%, Asian 3%, Black 2%.  It has a strong focus on broad but high quality education, as evidenced by the following sample of the 19 available courses at this school.

Art (6), Music (7), Performance arts (4), World language (2).

My presentation to 60-some 7^th grade students plus 25 adults (staff and parents) was organized by teacher Leila Sinclaire and arranged by Morgan Blum Schneider, Director of JFCS Holocaust Center

Letters from students

• I like how you used your humor to brighten the mood during this rather dark topic.
• It also made me feel lucky that you weren’t killed in any of your air accidents because you wouldn’t have been able to speak about your experience.
• I tend to find WWII interesting, and it showed me more about what it was like in German-occupied territories at the time, and from the perspective of a Jewish person.
• Your speech gave me the courage to stand out against antisemitism.
• Not only did you do what many people dream of, you also decided to make a change in this world and talk about your life so you can inspire kids like me and many others around the world.
• Before you spoke I didn’t realize how hard it was to survive the Holocaust.  Your stories showed me howe much luck and hard work from your mother it took to keep you alive.  
• Your message, “Be for things, not against things,” was really impactful for me.  I agree with this because people should be more supportive instead of spreading hate.
• We are also inspired by your willingness to see the positive in everything.
• Your story will stay with me for many years to come and I cannot say thank you enough.  It takes a lot of courage to share such personal stories, and I am grateful you chose to do so with us.
• Your story makes me realize how much I take things for granted.  I had a great-grandmother who survived the Holocaust, but I never got to ask all the questions I had.  Now you’ve left me with the knowledge of what I would have asked her.
• It gave me a deeper understanding of what it was like at that time and how the smallest things can bring so much joy.
• Thank you so much for teaching us about the hardest things in your life.  I know it is not easy and that you are making a sacrifice for us in bringing these memories up again.
• Hearing how much you enjoyed eating the marshmallow or when your mom brought you a boiled egg made me feel more grateful for the food I can access.
• The story of the Russian giving you a sugar cube was especially touching for me.  A small kind act from a soldier having such a big impact on your life was inspiring.
• Thank you so much for coming and changing my point of view on the Holocaust and life and touching my heart with your incredible stories.
• I was shocked that 30% of Warsaw’s population was Jewish and it was shoved by the Nazis into the 2% of the city that became the ghetto.
• One of the most impactful things for me was how excited you were to ride that red tricycle on your 3^rd birthday as well as tasting that sugar cube from that Russian soldier.  It’s stories like those that make you value small things because you never know when your world might flip completely.
• I relate to your not wanting to share the banana with your friend because you had been fighting.  I do the same with my brother.   
• Your experiences in Warsaw, in the ghetto and afterwards as well, helped to strengthen my Jewish identity.
• The red tricycle you got for your 3^rd birthday symbolizes to me hope, and I will make sure to hold your story close to my heart.
• I kept thinking that you could have been sent away into the cattle cars and concentration camp, but it is a miracle that you weren’t. 
• I can’t imagine how it would feel thinking you might not see your mother again.
• The fact that the Nazis killed 9 out of 10 Jews is outrageous.  I immediately thought of being in a room with 10 of my friends, and only 1 of them surviving.
• Your speech and stories about your experiences really made me feel how real it was.  I am not one of those people who think that the Holocaust is fake, but until now I just thought of the stories as just facts on paper that I should try and understand.  Listening to someone who went through it made me realize that it was real.
• Regarding your challenge question: “Would you harbor a minority person if you knew you might be killed for doing so?”  Would I save someone at the risk of my family?  That made me think for the entirety of the day, coming from a family of 7.  Learning about your side of the story and what you owed to these families because you probably wouldn’t be here without them.  I thought about it and I would do it.    
• I love how you put a little bit of humor into your stories even though there was mostly darkness behind it all.
• First, I want to start by sharing my gratitude to you for telling the story of your experiences during WWII.  You spoke in a way I will never forget, painting a picture in my mind of what it was like to be a Jewish boy at the time of the war.    I grew as I sat in my chair, frozen by your words.  I learned your perspective and was enlightened by the inspiring image of the Nazi plane in the sky above the shed.  And the moment when you saw your first machine gun, you smiled at the Nazi officer and continued eating soup. A moment that impacted your life forever.  I did not cry when you spoke, not because your words didn’t affect me, but because they drew into my very soul.  As the words you spoke ran through me, there was no place for tears.  I grieved as you spoke, and I grieve now for the 6 million Jewish people and 11 million in total murdered by the Nazis.  Your decision to speak about your experiences in WWII has grown my perspective, touched my soul, and has made me one leap closer to understanding the world and how I can make a change so the past never repeats itself. 
• I wish you the very best and will continue to help you share your story.  I hope one day I too can know, just like you, that I made a change for the generations and world to come.