Neither Yesterdays Nor Tomorrows

by George Elbaum

Facing History and Ourselves is an international educational and professional development organization whose mission is to combat bigotry, racism and prejudice in order to develop a more humane and informed citizenry.  For 39 years, Facing History has believed that education is the best key to accomplish this and to nurture justice and democracy, and it does so by providing training workshops and materials for teachers and speakers for personal presentations for students – 113,000  teachers and 4 million students have participated to date.

This event, held on the premises of Palo Alto High School, was an educator workshop, Survivors and Witnesses – Using Survivor Testimony in the Classroom, and included presentations on Nazi policies and actions, from isolation to more overt persecution; my testimony as a Ghetto survivor;  a model lesson by Dana Pattison, a Facing History-trained teacher from Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon; and discussion about several online testimonies of survivors from a newly developed project, iWitness, around which Facing History has developed instructional resources.

The workshop was organized by Facing History’s Senior Program Advisor, Jack Weinstein, and attendees included teachers, community members, and Facing History Advisory Board members.   Photos by Irene Searles.

with educator group and Jack Weinstein.

My presentation

by George J Elbaum

St. Peter’s Elementary School, founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1878, is an elementary and middle school with approximately 300 students in Kindergarten through 8th Grade.  The school is one of the Archdiocese of San Francisco Catholic Schools and a vital part of the parish, a predominantly Latino community in San Francisco’s Mission District.  Since its foundation, St. Peter’s has served all economic levels of the community by providing a well-rounded academic and Catholic education in a partnership with parents, who are recognized as the primary educators of their children.  The school recognizes its important role in the growth and development of students and their families, and it thus promotes Gospel values and fosters peace, justice, integrity, honesty and love for learning.

As part of that effort, St. Peter’s has a month-long study of the Holocaust for its 8^th grade students taught by teacher Nina Martinez, who organized today’s event with support from the school’s math teacher, Lawrence Hargarten.  This was my second visit to St. Peter’s, and in preparation the students read Elie Wiesel’s Night and are currently viewing Schindler’s List, so their questions during Q&A reflected their preparedness.  Upon my arrival I was greeted at the school’s parking lot by two helpful and enthusiastic students, David and Mariel, who guided me to the room for my presentation, and Nicole gets the credit for taking the photos.  Afterwards, all three guided me back to my car and we had a lively discussion about their plans for high school.  My presentation was arranged by Nina Grotch of the Jewish Family and Children’s Services.

Student Letters

In early February I received a large envelope containing 45 Thank You cards from the students, each in its own small envelope addressed to “George”.  Several of these envelopes were very creative visually, a unique font designed by the student or artistic spirals surrounding “George”, or the cards included drawings applicable to my story.  I would like to thank, among others, Andrea, Christopher, Dominic and Ysabella for their artwork.  I would also like to thank those students who wished me a speedy recovery of my leg, which was quite painful during my visit that I had to sit down occasionally.  Two weeks later (September 2, the same day as the postmark on the envelope containing the cards), I had a back operation to relieve the leg pain, and am now on the way to a successful recovery – your good wishes plus the surgery worked!

Several days after I returned home from the hospital my wife Mimi and I did what we usually do upon receiving student letters: after dinner Mimi read each of the cards aloud while I listened and absorbed the student’s message, and we selected sentences or phrases that especially resonated with us.  Today I added these to my website, below.

• Your mother had to leave you with Polish families again and again without knowing if you would ever see each other again. You also had to re-identify yourself multiple times in order to stay alive.
• I will try to forgive those who inflict or provoke negative things, thoughts or actions in me.
• I have learned and continue to appreciate living in this world.
• It must be really hard calling yourself a name or religion that you’re really not.
• It surprises me that people actually had the heart to keep and hide you, knowing the risks.
• My favorite part of your story was when the Russian officer gave you the sugar cube, because it felt to me like the happiest moment in your life and also like a moment of joy and freedom.
• The part when you told us about the sugar cube and how you were free made me so, so happy! I even wanted to clap!
• When you mentioned that you didn’t want to talk about the past, even after so many years had passed, really made me reflect on how serious this all was, and how damaging. When I got home from school I told my parents every detail of your experiences.
• Something that really impacted me was when you saw your father’s name in the phone book.
• I also want to thank you for giving me those little words of encouragement about going on to high school and about me wanting to become a writer. It really means a lot to me.
• I want you to know that you made me think differently: instead of whining I now try harder to succeed. Thank you.
• When you spoke about how you could achieve anything if you work hard enough really inspired me. Since you spoke no English and went to school where everyone spoke only English, and later you got into a very difficult college, inspires me to work hard and never give up.  I learned that you could do anything if you really set your mind to it.
• I learned never to give up. You and your mother kept moving forward, without looking back, so thank you.
• The whole world is glad that you are alive.
• I learned to make the best of things in life and not to take my family for granted.
• You taught me not to give up on my dreams.
• One thing that has stayed with me was when you saw that airplane through the hole in the roof and instantly wanted to be there, in that airplane. It stayed with me because, if you think about it, everyone needs to find their airplane.  I haven’t found mine yet, but I’m sure that I will.

Hitler in Warsaw 1939

Umschlagplatz 1942

by George J Elbaum

Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS) is a San Francisco Bay Area social services organization whose mission statement is “Serving individuals and families of all faiths and backgrounds, guided by the Jewish value of caring for those in our community most in need.” As such, JFCS carries a special responsibility within the Jewish community for reaching out to children, the aged, those with special needs, and for the resettlement and acculturation of refugees and immigrants.

JFCS’s Holocaust Center also conducts teacher training seminars focused on teaching tolerance and social responsibility, and today I spoke to two dozen middle and high school teachers participating in a professional development program now in its fifth year being run through the UC Davis History Project. (Prior to my talk the teachers spent a day at the Tauber Holocaust Library where, with the help of JFCS’s Yedida Kanfer, they did research on the topic about which they’ll create a new lesson plan for their students.)  This UC project is organized and directed by Diane Wolf, Professor of Sociology and Director of UC Davis Jewish Studies Program, who accompanied the participating teachers.  I was especially pleased by the long and animated Q&A session and the many thoughtful questions and comments which my talk elicited from the teachers and from Professor Wolf.  My talk was arranged by Nina Grotch, JFCS’s Manager of Community Education.

with teachers and Prof. Diane Wolf far left

by George J Elbaum

Oceana High School is a small public high school in northern Pacifica, CA, with a high diversity student body of 652 students, of which 81% are minority and 32% are economically disadvantaged, but it nevertheless has earned a “Best High Schools in California” rating by the US News & World Report Rankings and an Academic Performance Index of 817.  It has accomplished this by having special teaching programs, exhibition projects in each grade, and a community service requirement for all students.

My presentation to approximately 190 10^th grade students was organized by Oceana’s  humanities teachers Adam Weinstein, Keziah David, and Roisin Madden.  Also attending the presentation were Oceana’s Vice Principal John Neuberger and teachers Paul Orth, Ben Barnett, Rebecca Uhrenholt, and Kent Yuen, and the volunteer photographer was Demetrius Ontiveros (thank you!).  The presentation was arranged by Jack Weinstein of Facing History and Ourselves, who introduced me to the audience and after my talk provided some very meaningful context for the students.

Student Letters

A couple weeks after my talk at Oceana I received a box containing 111 letters from the students, plus a bag of marshmallows to remind me of my train ride from Warsaw to Paris when I was 10 years old!  Much thanks for this surprise!  After an unplanned delay, my wife Mimi and I read these letters together at the dinner table (though not all 111 in one evening!) as we have done in the past.  We were truly touched by the thoughtfulness and heartfelt emotion shown in these letters, some even resulting in a lump in my throat with a sense of deep gratitude for their feedback.  The statements and phrases that particularly resonated with us are listed below.

• Having a speaker was definitely a change of learning. The same raw emotions cannot be conveyed by a teacher who never experienced the same events.
• From your first encounter with an officer to the plane flying against the bright, blue sky, I was able to imagine scenes. I saw the young boy with dreamy eyes when he was introduced to sugar, I saw the worried face of a young mother.  It felt as if I was right there with you.
• I want to thank you for reminding me that I shouldn’t stress myself over things that happened in the past or that are going to happen in the future. The past is history that I should acknowledge, but not look back on and regret.  The future is something I know nothing about; anything could happen so I shouldn’t envision the worst.
• The one thing that struck me in your speech was your ideology: living in the moment and not dwelling on the future or the past. This struck me because I’m the opposite: I dwell on the future and the past constantly and I stress out a lot from it.  You are now a role model for me, and I hope to adopt your ideology and not dwell on the past/future but just live in the moment.
• The lesson that I will never forget is where you said to focus on the present in order to be wherever you want to be, because focusing on the past won’t change the future and only focusing on the present will get you far.
• Telling your story in front of thousands makes you dig into the past hoping that the future will be better.
• I appreciate how you taught me to be content and to focus on the present.
• One thing I learned specifically was to live in the present – you are alive in the present, and that should be what matters.
• I learned a lot from what you said, but what really struck out to me was how you moved on from whatever happened.
• Through your story I learned about the importance of resilience and the ability to move forward.
• If I was in the same position I’m sure that I would cry myself to sleep thinking about the events that happened each day and wondering if I will survive to see another night.
• I want to spread word about your book, but mostly about your living the Golden Rule, which is to treat others as you would like to be treated, and living a life full of happiness and not anger and hatred.
• Thank you for teaching us the morals that make me want to be reflect on what kind of person I have become and how I can be a better person each day.
• I’m really glad that you learned how to live such an optimistic life despite going through such a horrific event like the Holocaust.
• Your stories about being lucky really shocked me, and I realized just how much the odds were against you to survive.
• I’ll tell my friends and family how luck is a mysterious thing.
• What really stood out for me was your emphasis on luck. One less smile at a soldier, one more moment holding that grenade….  It’s astonishing to imagine “walking away” from these events.
• I believe things always happen for a reason, so I think that “luck” brought you here so you could share your story with our generation who is among the last to hear it directly from a survivor.
• I was surprised to hear how you smiled at the Nazi soldier while you were eating soup, and how he walked away without harming you. It really shows how survival during the Holocaust was so much from luck and not from strategy.  Also, it inspired me to smile more.  My older sister says that I always look angry, so smiling will help me a lot.
• A unique thing that I learned from your sharing your story is that I should cherish my time with my family and the people I love, because I don’t know when it’ll be the next time I see them.
• Your story made me look over my life and taught me to be thankful for what I have and to not complain about the things that I don’t.
• I learned that when miserable things happen to you like war, you start to enjoy the little things in life, no matter how small they are.
• I now think of how you went through life whenever I am stressed and it makes me feel better, because I think to myself that if you survived that, then  I can survive this.
• I learned that concentration camps were not the only place where there was suffering during the Holocaust.
• I related to how your mom left you with other families because I was constantly taken care of by babysitters, since my mom had to work a lot to provide a stable living environment for me. The babysitters weren’t always the nicest people, just as the families you lived with weren’t always kind either.
• I can hardly imagine how hard it was for you as a child to wake up each day and notice that your mother was not by your side with you.
• Your story is something that I will always remember when hearing the words “Hidden child.”
• I learned how risky it was for families to harbor or safe-house Jews, that they were risking their lives. They may not have always been kind to you, but I hope none were too terrible, and if so, I hope you don’t remember it.
• When you talked about doing what’s right despite the risk made me wonder what would I do if asked to put my family and myself in danger by taking in someone else’s kid. It would be very hard to choose between what is right and protection of my family.
• Your story has changed the way that I look at doing what’s right and what’s wrong.
• Your story inspires me to be an upstander.
• Many people who have gone through what you did are traumatized by it and can’t even mention it. It may have taken you 60 years to come out with your story, but your presentation showed that you are happy and can talk about these horrible things, which I admire and appreciate a lot.
• Dear George Elbaum, and all of the other names you’ve had through your life J
• Since you’ve had to change your name several times, I’ve been wondering how you felt about it and whether you felt sometimes that you lost a part of your identity with it. (Response: my identity was my first name, which I never changed, only my last name.)
• Equally powerful was the story of your mother and the decisions she made to keep you alive. She must have been extremely worried when she left you at the houses of complete strangers.  It’s also difficult to imagine the risks and dangers she faced each time she returned to visit you.
• I found your story to be very bittersweet, but it shows how innocent and accepting children can be. Nobody is born racist or judgmental.  Your story is a great example for this
• I was always interested about the Holocaust and deeply perplexed by how people could ever do such a disgusting, grotesque, nasty, and cruel act against humanity and other human beings. I guess it’s what happens when people with broken minds get extreme power, sadly.
• If I had the chance, I would go through and relive all the terrible experiences of all the Jews who were murdered if it meant that it would have never happened.
• I don’t think I could describe your story to my friends and family in words, how it felt to hear your story. It’s similar to when you read a good book and someone asks you what the book is about, and all you can reply back is, “You have to read it yourself.”
• When everyone who has first handedly experienced the Holocaust is gone, the type of personal connection you made with us students through your story can never be done again. However, we students can pass on stories of what we have heard from people like you and hopefully create that connection again.
• Thanks again, and ….you rock!!

with Jack Weinstein and our audience

by George J Elbaum

The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Jesuit Catholic university located in the middle of San Francisco.  Founded in 1855, USF was the city’s first university, and it is the third oldest institution for higher learning in California.  Its student body numbers approximately 10,000, with 63% undergraduates and 37% postgraduates, and its faculty numbers approximately 1,000, of which 41% are full-time and 59% are part-time, or adjunct.  Religious and spiritual organizations on campus include the Muslim Student Union, the USF chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and the USF Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

As it was last year, my talk at USF was again to an undergraduate class entitled Jews, Judaisms, and Jewish Identities, which is a part of the Swig Program in Jewish Studies and Social Justice.  It was organized by its teacher, Oren Kroll-Zeldin, Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Theology and Director of the Beyond Bridges: Israel-Palestine, and was arranged by Nina Grotch of the Jewish Family and Childrens’ Services.

by George J Elbaum

This was the sixth consecutive year that I spoke at Charles Wright Academy’s (CWA) Global Summit, which this year consisted of the 75 students of the CWA freshmen class and 34 high school students and teachers from China, Colombia, Germany and Poland, the visitors staying with CWA host families during their visit, as usual.  The annual Global Summit is a 10-day program designed to promote peace and social justice by exposing the visiting students to and developing their understanding of the concepts of universal human rights and justice, fair trade and sustainable life styles, and by demonstrating how the choices that each of us makes every day can impact the world. The core of the Summit is a series of speakers whose personal experiences reflect directly on these subjects, and their presentations are followed by group discussions on these very concepts. My presentation was the first time that most of these students heard directly from a Holocaust survivor, and their subsequent comments and questions were very interesting.

This year’s Summit was organized & managed by Ann Vogel, CWA’s International Student Coordinator, who picked up the baton from founder & past organizer Nick Coddington, who departed this summer for doctoral studies at Columbia University.  However, Ann is not a newcomer to the Summit, having volunteered & helped coordinate it before her son graduated from CWA and now when her daughter is a CWA student.

by George J Elbaum

The Holocaust Center’s annual Voices for Humanity Luncheon 2015 was a major success, with record attendance of 850 guests and an eclectic mix of speakers: welcome by Legacy Speaker Arik Cohen, then The Honorable Mayor (of Seattle) Ed Murray, the Voices for Humanity Award 2015 winners Carl & Joann Bianco, followed by the Holocaust Center’s Executive Director Dee Simon, home educated student Penny Rhines, teacher Allison Hancock and her student Jeremiah Moreno, Voices for Humanity video (https://youtu.be/BsV9TffiVEw), comments by students Michael Kimball, Danielle Kim & me, then Educate.Inspire.Take Action  presentation by teacher Allison Hancock, and ending with my presentation on my Holocaust childhood (my 1st book, Neither Yesterdays Nor Tomorrows) and the feedback I received from students & teachers at the 90 venues where I’ve spoken in the last 5 years (my 2nd book, Yesterdays Revisted).  Preparing this presentation was actually quite a challenge because I was asked to condense both books into 12-15 minutes!  I wasn’t totally successful, but almost.

Arrangements and coordination of my presentation were made by Karen Chachkes, the Center’s Strategic Director, and Laurie Warshal Cohen, Special Projects & Development.

with teacher Allison Hancock & student speakers Danielle Kim, Michael Kimball, Jeremiah Moreno & Penny Rhines

by George J Elbaum

Holocaust Center for Humanity (HCH) is the new name for Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center (a welcome change, in my opinion), which arranged my very first two talks to students in October 2010, and has continued to arrange many more for my subsequent visits to Seattle. On August 10, 2015, I visited HCH’s impressive new office and spoke to youth groups invited by HCH from summer camps operated by the Jewish Community Center and by the Boys and Girls Club. The students were mostly in early teens and possibly unfamiliar with pre-Holocaust Germany, so before introducing me HCH’s Strategic Director, Karen Chachkes, showed a brief film entitled The Path to Nazi Genocide, on how Nazi policies in the 1930s turned German Jews, step-by-step, from full and equal citizens of Germany into a powerless minority with no civil rights and no protection, and thus fodder for Nazi gas chambers.  After the film I gave my talk, followed by an active Q & A session which continued one-on-one after the group photographs, etc. The talk was also attended by HCH Executive Director Dee Simon and many of the staff.

with the students

with the Center’s staff

by George J Elbaum

Fernando Rivera Intermediate School (Fernando) is a public middle school (grades 6-8) in Daly City.  Its total student body is almost 500 with high diversity: 39% Filipino, 29% Asian, 15% Hispanic, and 17% all other.  Fernando received a 2013 California Distinguished School Award as its academic test scores were approximately 25% higher than California averages.

My presentation at Fernando was to 200 8^th graders whose preparation included reading the play version of “The Diary of Anne Frank” in their Reading & Language Arts course, and it was arranged directly by its teacher, Lindsay (Lu) Bazela, whom I met when she was the facilitator at my presentations at the JFCS Day of Learning on March 8, 2015.  On my webpost for that JFCS event I wrote the following: “My presentations were to 2 student workshop sessions entitled ‘Who Lived in the Ghettos?  A Study of the Socio-Economic Spectrum,’ which were organized and led by Lu Bazela, a dedicated and enthusiastic teacher of Social Science at the Fernando Rivera Intermediate School in Daly City.”

In preparing this text I sought information on Fernado from its website, but there were no specifics (the information in the first paragraph above is from other sources) except for its memorable motto: “Be Kind, Be Responsible, Always be the Best you can be, That’s the Fernando Attitude, And the Choice is yours!”  I therefore asked Ms. Bazela for some “good words” that reflect the flavor of the school and the high spirit of the students that was clearly evident during my talk.  Her reply follows.

“We very much live by our motto at out school… every day!  “Be Kind, Be Responsible, and Always be the Best you can be. The Choice is yours!”  It’s stated every morning at announcements and it starts our day off right.  Our students look out for one another and spirit is a big part of our school.  There is a special spirit trip for kids who’ve hit enough spirit points.  Goofiness is encouraged and treating others well is encouraged.  Kids who do not know me talk to me every day and encourage me to have a great day.  It’s remarkable, all the positivity.  Kids are encouraged to think positively, to be good to the community, and to have faith in their own power, to have a good day.  Staff and administration are strong and positive as well.”

Indeed, enthusiastic teachers result in enthusiastic students!

photo right

photo left

by George J Elbaum

Arroyo High School in San Lorenzo, across the bay from San Francisco, has a high diversity student body of approximately 1,900 students. It is organized into several “schools within a school,” and this is the 4th year in a row that I have visited and spoken to its Future Academy for Social Change.  The audience was approximately 100 10^th grade students taking the Facing History-based unit taught by teacher Jorja Santillan, who again organized my visit as arranged by Jack Weinstein of Facing History.  Based on my past visits, I knew that the student audience would be enthusiastic and well-prepared, and I was not disappointed.  I observed again how Jorja Santillan’s enthusiasm and energy transfer to her students, whom she prepares and guides through the various aspects of the Holocaust.  In her own words: “It’s so important that they understand how complex the Holocaust is through different stories, and how crucial it is that this history be kept alive.  I tell my students that now it’s their responsibility to carry it on along with their own histories.”

On this visit to Arroyo I saw in the library 13 desk-top Holocaust memorials (shown on the photos below) which were built by Jorja Santillan’s students as part of the Facing History unit, and after the visit I emailed her asking how she defined this assignments for her students.  Rather than just addressing the memorials, she broadened her answer by describing her approach to teaching the Facing History unit, as follows:

“During our study of the Holocaust, my students have engaged in a variety of activities to complicate their thinking about issues related to it.  We initially discussed the power of labels and how they can positively or negatively impact us.  This relates to the impact of hateful labels and stereotyping of the Jews (also other groups), which were exploited by Hitler and his regime.  Students also developed their understanding of the history of anti-Semitism, the historical context leading up to WWII, how the Nazis continuously gained power, and the murderous strategies used to annihilate Jews and other minority groups.  In addition, we also studied bystanders and upstanders during the Holocaust because students often think that the Jews or others did not resist, which many did.  We discussed how there are many ways to resist even if not through physical force.  Next, they would navigate Birkenau online, reading about the different areas of this concentration camp and viewing photos to give them a glimpse of what Elie Wiesel experiences in Night.  As we read it, we focused on the power of faith to inspire or to destroy, the dehumanization and the struggle to survive.  As we study the Holocaust and read Night, I remind students that there are many different Holocaust stories, and that it’s a complex issue with multiple perspectives or experiences.

For the culmination of the unit, students create a Holocaust memorial to honor a person, group, or event.   They review existing memorials in the US to get ideas, and then work in groups of 3 or 4 to create a proposal outlining the details of the memorial (title, sizes, materials, location, and artist’s statement explaining the symbolism), which I approve.  Afterwards they construct the memorial and, once finished, they present it to the class.  After all the presentations, each class voted on the memorials they believed were the best representations to exhibit in the library.”

It is the dedicated, enthusiastic, energetic teachers like Jorja Santillan who truly teach our next generation, and thus on whom our country’s future depends.

Letters from Students

I was away for several weeks, and when I returned the accumulated mail included a large envelope with 80+ letters from Arroyo students.  As has become our habit by now, after dinner my wife Mimi read each letter aloud while I listened and absorbed it, mentally and emotionally.  We were touched by the students’ openness and sensitivity as reflected in the letters, and we felt very gratified by their responses to my story.  Statements from these letters that particularly resonated with us are excerpted below.

• Hearing your story was one of those things in life that I will never forget.
• Some people may not like talking about tough times in their lives but I’m happy that you did because you really opened our eyes on how much the Holocaust impacted everyone.
• It’s important for your words to be spread and shared to new generations. One day when I have kids I will tell them about my lucky experience hearing your story.
• Hearing how you stayed with 4-5 different families made me realize the value of family. Sometimes I want to be left completely alone, but your story made me realize that I’m lucky to live where I shouldn’t worry about losing my family.
• I will share your story to ensure that this history doesn’t become just a paragraph in a text book.
• I could only imagine how scary it would be living through those years of your life and now having to re-live it by telling about it. It’s incredibly inspiring how you made something so good of yourself.
• Even though the experience was very traumatic, it shaped you into the person you are today, which is inspiring. Your life turned into a “happy ever after,” which warms my heart a lot.
• Hearing your story wasn’t something I was looking forward to as I thought it was going to be another academic lecture. A few minutes into it I became more and more interested.  It opened my mind, showing that this really happened, and it’s our generation’s job to remind the next generation that the Holocaust should not be forgotten.
• I believe it wasn’t just your luck that helped you make it through the dark times, but your good heart. You smiled at the face of danger and changed a man’s decision with it.
• You either escaped and survived, or were killed – there was no in between – and afterwards you had to start your life all over again without the loved ones killed by the Nazis.
• You inspired me to take advantage of the “American dream” and work hard for what I want, to appreciate the things I have in life and work hard for the things I strive for.
• After your talk I wanted to find the answers to all the questions I had that weren’t answered during the talk.  Mrs. Santillan told me about the Q&A section on your website, so I went home and read through all of it.  I felt so much more informed after doing so.
• You have also taught me that in dark times there are good people out there who can help.
• I told my mom about what you told us. She said that you must have had all that luck to survive because you had a purpose, and you weren’t meant to die then.
• I hadn’t thought of the fact that one day there will no longer be survivors of the Holocaust. After that day, your story and many others will still remain and must be passed on.  My generation’s responsibility will be to teach and speak of this history because it’s worth telling.  Thank you for coming this year!
• After hearing your story I saw the Holocaust in a whole new light. Hearing a story in person is much different than reading from a text book or even from a memoir, such as Eli Wiesel’s “Night.”  Your story provided an experience that was more touching, and it broke the barriers that textbooks create for students.
• I really latched onto the title of your book, “Neither Yesterdays Nor Tomorrows.” You are very right.  If the past was hard, keep on going.  If the future does not seem bright, stay in the now.
• You are an important beacon to history by going around and spreading the story of the Holocaust. When you share your story, you are attaching a bit of the Holocaust to everyone’s mind and heart.
• Our generation must tell the future generations about the Holocaust because it would keep history from repeating itself.
• It is now my responsibility to keep this history alive by telling someone about it, especially if they doubt the Holocaust and the drastic measures people went through to survive.
• I admire the courage and strength it took to relive the horrors of the Holocaust and share your experiences publically. I hope to take the account you told us and share it to prevent bigotry, whether it be against Jews, Muslims or African Americans.  As you said, I plan to live for a purpose rather than against an idea or person.
• By meeting you I felt I met with history. You gave me a better understanding of the Jewish genocide and the crimes of the Nazis.  You helped clear my sight to the truth.  Thank you.
• Before meeting you I did not know what to expect. Maybe I expected someone a lot more serious with some anger still in them, but I’m glad that was not the case.  I admire how you spoke to us in an inspiring way, and instead of telling us not to do or believe certain things you motivated us to make good choices and stay true to the good we believe in.
• I believe that by sharing your story in schools such as ours you are making the world a better place. I look forward to reading your book online and sharing your story with my family.
• I too have lost a loved one and was placed with guardians.  It was tragic for me, and I was transferred to a whole new environment, moving homes many times and saying goodbye to new friends, so this displacement from my mom to guardians was a familiar scenario.  However, motivation to keep moving forward is what kept me on my feet and striving for success in college.  (My response: Bravo!  With that attitude, you will do it.)

the audience

Jack Weinstein’s introduction

end of presentation