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The Minnesota Holocaust Survivor Portrait Project leondumoulin.nl War era . their memoirs may be influenced by ex post facto accounts of others. The .. There is no pen sharp enough to write exactly what happened, no mind big.
Table of contents

How was I to tell a world that did not want to listen? How was I to speak of the unspeakable—words that I myself did not want to hear? In the late s, Weitz became aware of groups that were denying that the Holocaust had ever taken place. Despite the volumes of evidence, historical writings, and the testimony of survivors, Holocaust denial was on the rise. Weitz was moved to speak out:. How could seemingly intelligent people deny an event that had been so thoroughly documented by the murderers themselves?

Auschwitz survivor Max Eisen revisits horrors for memoir

Later, in desperation, I consulted a lawyer. He seemed to understand my outrage and seriously suggested that I sue for defamation of soul. I felt a little better. I calmed down. Then, I began to think about the indignity of having to defend an undeniable truth, and I decided against legal action. But I had to do something! I could not remain silent! I am a survivor, an eyewitness, and it is about time that I speak out. Whether they share their stories or prefer to keep silent, survivors live with the memory of their experiences.

Isabella Leitner, a Hungarian survivor of Auschwitz, wrote about what the month of May means to her each year:. There is something special about being born on May 1st, and dear little Rachel is special. There is something special about being born any time in May—May 1st, May 28th.

The Art of Witness

The scent of spring is delicious. It permeates the air. It sings the song of birth, of life. All is drenched in sun. The earth smiles. It is happy you are here. The world ended in May. I was born in May. I died in May. We started the journey of ugliness on May 29th. We headed for Auschwitz. We arrived on May 31st. It shrieked in pain. For more than twenty years I have walked zombie-like toward the end of May, deeply depressed, losing jobs, losing lovers, uncomprehending.

And then June would come, and there would be new zeal, new life. That is not happiness, only relief, and relief is blessed. Now I want to reinstate the month of May. I want to reincarnate the month, reincarnate the dead. I want to tell my mother that I kept her faith, that I lived because she wanted me to, that the strength she imbued me with is not for sale, that the god in man is worth living for, and I will make sure that I hand that down to those who come after me. My parents were very decent people, and I don't think they realized it was true until they were in their own death throes as they were being suffocated by Zyklon B.

The number was brutally tattooed onto your arm in Auschwitz and has been there for more than 70 years. How do you view it now? I know it's not something I should boast about, but my number is a very early one. I know very few people who survived Auschwitz-Birkenau with a number lower than mine. Survivors can often get into unhealthy conversations with each other in which comparisons are made in terms of who suffered the most.

Some say the earlier the number, the more one suffered. Obviously this isn't always the case, but I do have a certain pride in my number. At one point you write, "The terrible pain erased the memory of the exact day…". Isn't it sometimes tricky to remember events that took place more than 70 years ago?

Many of my memories from that period are as clear as a bell, but obviously an exact day and date of a particular event is impossible for me to recall. However, if an atrocity is taking place in front of one's eyes, that inevitably gets imprinted into one's memory. I try my best not to think about some of the things I saw, but it's difficult. If someone is having his head literally beaten to a pulp in front of you, the memory of that man's brains spewing out is hard to erase.

Holocaust survivor interview, 2017

No one could forget a character like Karel Kurpanik, who I have described in my book. This man was a necrophiliac who I unfortunately observed in his element when he was with us prisoners. Having the opportunity to break someone's skull and watch them die slowly was the ultimate pleasure for him. These memories will always haunt me. The pain gets buried somewhere in your subconscious, only to emerge many years later in the form of horrific nightmares that still haunt me to this day.

“The Complete Works of Primo Levi” | The New Yorker

Why was it important to you to add this historical background? Having seen the worst that humanity can become, I was naturally curious to get a wider perspective on the events I had witnessed.


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I also felt it important to place my experiences into the larger political context in order to help the reader understand what needs to happen for a society to become like this, and hopefully see the signs and stop it before it's too late. You tell the story of Alfred Rossner, who was in charge of almost 10, Jewish textile workers in Bedzin, and who provided part of your family with documents which proved they did strategically important work to the war effort. Did you want to show that there were also people who were humane during these terrible times?

Yes, exactly. Alfred Rossner was someone I will be eternally thankful to. He kept my family together and alive for much longer than would have been the case otherwise.

Auschwitz survivor, Nobel laureate, taught at BU since 1976

He helped my father and elder sister to work in his tailoring factory for as long as possible. I certainly wanted to pay tribute to him as a man of compassion. He was someone who cared when authorities were trying to tell the population that certain types of human beings should be victimized and humiliated. There were a few people who risked their lives to help us Jews. They both protected me for as long as they could.

These people were bright lights in the darkness.


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  • You are one of the last witnesses of the Holocaust. A Pennsylvania man who claimed for years to have escaped from Auschwitz, met track and field star Jesse Owens and Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, confessed on Friday that he had fabricated the entire story. I did not intend to lessen or overshadow the events which truly happened there by falsely claiming to have been personally involved.

    But he also told people that he was arrested by the Nazis, sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz, and met Mengele, the SS physician who tortured prisoners of the concentration camp. Hirt claimed to have escaped under an electric fence at the camp.


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