Read reflections and testimonies written by Holocaust survivors in their own words.
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Sisterhood
November 15, 2022
I have a sister, 14 months younger than me, named Zsuzsi. Her name was changed to Shosha in Israel. She was a beautiful, sweet little girl loved by everyone. Our relationship changed when we got older and she realized that she did not have to do everything I asked her to. As the older sister, it seemed to me natural that whatever I was asked to do I should forward it to her. She used to comply in order to please me, but this came to an end when she realized that all those requests were my jobs and my responsibilities.
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People Have Choices
October 23, 2019
The Museum has the motto “What You Do Matters,” and it is so true.
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Millennials and the Holocaust
October 23, 2019
Headlines from the American media in April 2018 after a Holocaust-related survey was published:
“Holocaust study: Two-thirds of millennials don’t know what Auschwitz is” (Washington Post, April 12, 2018)
“4 in 10 millennials don’t know 6 million Jews were killed in Holocaust, study shows” (CBS News, April 12, 2018)
“Holocaust Is Fading From Memory, Survey Finds” (New York Times, April 12, 2018)
“The Startling Statistics About People’s Holocaust Knowledge” (NPR, April 14, 2018)
“Why We’re Forgetting the Holocaust” (New York Post, April 15, 2018)
“Study Shows Americans are Forgetting about the Holocaust” (NBC News, April 12, 2018)
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History Repeating Itself
October 23, 2019
On May 5, 2019, I was one of two speakers at a Yom Hashoah commemoration in Denver, Colorado. The gathering could not have been more timely. When I saw the printed program for the first time the day before, I was glad to see that someone had titled my presentation, “Surviving Mass Genocide. Anti-Semitism; History Repeating Itself.” Great title, although I thought I might have put a question mark at the end, as I was not ready to make such an affirmative statement. I would have raised it as a question: “Is History Repeating Itself?”
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Enduring Melodies
November 13, 2018
If someone could grant me one wish, I would ask, without hesitation, for perfect pitch. The people I envy are the ones who can play music by ear. I love music and would love to be able to play an instrument, any instrument. Although if a second request would be honored, my choice of instrument would be cello or maybe clarinet.
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A Three-Year-Old Saves His Mother
November 1, 2016
After my mother was miraculously released from the infamous Mosonyi Street Detention Center, we could no longer stay with our host family, whose apartment was not in a building that was assigned to Jews and marked with a yellow Star of David. We could not afford to have another “good neighbor” denounce us again to the police.
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A Horse Named Fritz
November 1, 2015
Martin Weiss was born in Polana, Czechoslovakia, and survived AuschwitzBirkenau and Mauthausen. He was liberated by US troops at the Gunskirchen camp in Austria 1945.
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Sorrow Follows Laughter
October 19, 2008
Whenever my children were having a good time, laughing their heads off, not responding even to my warnings to stop, I used to tell them, “You will see that in the end there will be tears!”
