1st Place:
Steven Weier, Grade 8.
Cedar Heights Middle School, Covington. Teacher: Sylvia O'Brien.

The Lessons of Holocaust Survivors: Essentials for a Brighter Future

Holocaust survivors are people of the utmost importance to the course of history. They witnessed acts of the worst malevolence mankind has ever seen. By acquainting ourselves with the stories of these survivors, we can learn things that only people who have experienced such atrocities could ever teach. They are willing to share their knowledge, but if the future is to be spared of any iniquity that is at all comparable to the Holocaust, then we, the people of today, must listen with the utmost intent. The stories of Holocaust survivors contain keys that will unlock the doors of a brighter future. They can teach us what is truly important in life, how having hope can keep oneself from falling into an abyss of despair, how true happiness can be attained even in a time when joy seems like a relic of the past, how desolation can be avoided by making the best of what is available, and that indifference is a trait that can be just as detrimental as enmity, racism, or prejudice.

When I went to hear Magda Schaloum, a survivor of the Holocaust, speak at the Bellevue library, I began to truly understand the importance of my family. I had always known that my family is much more important than any material possession that I have, but Mrs. Schaloum enlightened me to the true value that one places on their family’s life when forced to endure such an ordeal as the Holocaust. Especially recently, now that my birthday is approaching, I am finding it difficult to think of any gifts to ask for. What I truly want is for my family to be like it was before the divorce, but that is something that cannot be bought. I am also finding it hard to have a dad for only half of each week. It is extremely challenging for me to even imagine losing a parent, let alone my whole family. Unlike gifts, family is forever. Edith Goldapper so valued her family that while she was climbing the mountains to Switzerland (to escape France) she carried pictures of her parents in the pockets of her coat. These pictures gave her the strength and the courage that she needed. Victims of the Holocaust—and their stories—make people realize that their family is truly the most important thing in life. Because of their experiences, witnesses of the Holocaust can convey this message better than anyone.

Without hope, life is meaningless. Once a person has lost hope, they have lost everything. After hope is lost, so is the will to live. The stories of Holocaust survivors show exactly how important it is to have hope. Arek Hersh writes,

Every day there was starvation and beatings... But somehow as we knew the Germans were getting defeated we kept on, and the thought that maybe some people in the family survived, that kept me going.

Having hope is a vital lesson for the future. Tragedy can occur anywhere and at any time. We need to be strong enough to fight back the engulfing despair. Hope will give us the assurance that we need to survive, just as it did for those that suffered through the Holocaust. By asking Holocaust survivors to share their wisdom with us, we can begin to comprehend how crucial hope was for them, and how essential it is for the future.

The book, All But My Life, by Gerda Weissmann Klein, was the first Holocaust book I read. From it, I learned how to give true happiness. On page 82, it says,

A few days later, on May 8, I woke up with Papa and mama kissing me and saying “Happy birthday.” Mama pressed something into my hand. An orange! I hadn’t seen one in almost three years.

I thought it was extremely sad that Gerda only got an orange for her birthday, and yet she was so happy. This is something that I will always remember about the Holocaust. Even though that single orange brought me feelings of sadness, it brought Gerda great happiness. After reading that section, I had a better understanding of how to make somebody truly happy: do something that costs a great sacrifice, with no ulterior motive but to please the person whom the happiness is for. People can grasp the complex topic of true happiness by familiarizing themselves with stories of Holocaust survivors.

It is difficult to comprehend how a person’s existence could be as horrible as it was during the Holocaust, yet it was more dreadful than any normal person could imagine. Everyday uncertainty and misery were prevalent. The people who endured such a life learned to make the best of what they had. They recognized that if they were to survive, then their living conditions had to be improved. Eugen Kogon wrote about one way to make life in the concentration camps more tolerable. On page 308 of his book, The Theory and Practice of Hell, he wrote,

Achieving group allegiance meant joining a small circle of friends… In such groups men again became human beings, after the humiliation suffered in the toil of the day… Hope was revived, helping them to be ready to proceed on the appointed path, step by step.

In all of the stories I have heard from survivors, or read in books, I have always been aware that they did various things to improve their abysmal lives. They put on plays, or talked about their hopes and dreams. They fantasized about life after the war, and shared their dreams with friends. Having a friend was paramount, because then they had somebody to share their thoughts and feelings with. By sharing their thoughts and feelings, they were able to let out some of the pent up emotions that were gained and reinforced each day. When feelings of such intimacy are shared, the bond of friendship becomes very strong, and gives the person a reason to live. Increasing the quality of life greatly enhanced the chance of survival for victims of the Holocaust. This message is crucial for the generations that are to follow.

During the Holocaust, millions of people sat by and watched as the Jews and other “inferior” groups of people were taken to the concentration camps. Because it was not their life that was in danger, the bystanders did not consider it important enough to act. If the citizens of Europe had revolted against the Nazis, the Holocaust may have been avoided, and millions of lives spared the terrible fates that awaited them upon arrival to the concentration camps. John Chilag, a survivor of Auschwitz, writes,

The most important lesson I learnt from the Holocaust is we have to fight indifference. The perpetrators of the Holocaust were very small in number. But a large proportion of people just stood by and watched and that is what we have to fight. If people would react even in a minor way then the problem would have been solved.

This lesson is the most important piece of information that can be learned from the stories of Holocaust survivors. My generation is making the same mistake as the Europeans did: we are not reacting to the atrocities at hand. In Darfur, another genocide is being carried out, and the United States is just sitting by and watching as history repeats itself. Indifference is allowing millions of people to die. By acquainting oneself with the stories of Holocaust survivors, we may learn from our mistakes. It is not too late to save the people of Darfur.

Survivors of the Holocaust know what is truly important in life, how they kept themselves from falling into an abyss of despair, how true happiness can be attained even in the darkest of times, how making the best of what is available keeps feelings of desolation at bay, and that indifference is as damaging as enmity, racism, and prejudice—and by familiarizing ourselves with their stories, we may carry on their messages from one generation to another. In a sense, because I have read stories of victims of the Holocaust, and heard survivors speak, I have become a survivor. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to carry history into the future, especially because the knowledge at hand is of such importance. Even just one story is enough to have the required impact to make the difference that could save lives. The messages from the books are carried on from one generation to the next, traveling through time and teaching people the lessons of preserving life. In class, I pledged to carry on the wisdom of a survivor, so that when I am an adult, I can confidently rebut anybody who denies the legitimacy of the Holocaust. In the future, it may be hard for people to believe that such horrendous acts could ever be carried out by humans, and I intend to use the knowledge I have gained to eliminate any doubts that they may have, and describe to them what truly happened. Some day, I dream that the nations of the world may join hands, and use the knowledge they have learned from past mistakes to make sure that no event of such malevolence is ever carried out again. The stories of victims of the Holocaust will help this dream to become a reality.

Primary Sources

- Klein, Gerda Weissmann. All But My Life. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1957. 
- Kogon, Uegen, with an introduction by Nikolaus Wachsmann. Translated from German by Heinz Norden. The Theory and Practice of Hell: The German Concentration Camps and the System Behind Them. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1950.
- Schaloum, Magda. Holocaust Survivor (Speaker). 5 Feb. 2008.

2nd Place:
Iris Bennett, Grade 8.
Lake Washington Girls Middle School, Seattle. Teacher: Jenny Zavatsky.

Those eyes. Those dark eyes. They were so like mine. Small, but with such intensity that they stood out from the rest of his body. And his skin so pale and smooth looking, but with a bump here or there alluding to imperfection. He stood still. With a certainty only a soldier could hold he aimed his rifle at me. I parted my lips slightly and smiled. I could almost feel those few creases near my eyes fold under one another. I told my father long ago, I would die smiling. So I smiled.

 He stood there. I was still smiling. His eyes were consuming mine, not in anger or hate, but in something else. At the time I had no name for it. He lay his rifle down. He came so close to me I could see every hair in his brow. He parted his lips so cracked and dry, and whispered to me, “Wo sind die engel?“ “Where are the angels?” A small lonely tear ran down his cheek. My throat had gone dry. There was nothing for me to say. Slowly, I slipped my arms under his and held on to him with all my strength. I felt his hands on my back and knew he was holding on to me, leaning his weight on me. I was not loving him or pitying him, but I was giving him comfort. I was giving him the decency of one human being to another. That was all I could give.

Where are the angels? I don’t think I will ever fully understand what he meant. But he wanted to be saved. Perhaps I was his angel. Looking back I realize what his eyes had been saying. We are the same. People always ask me what I have learned from those years. It’s hard to answer, so much happened. Yet that day I will always remember. He is what I will always remember. He taught me the answer to every question. He taught the answer to life. It’s so simple. “We are the same.”

3rd Place:
Nathan Poindexter, Grade 7.
Seattle Academy, Seattle. Teacher: Emily Cherkin.

We Can Learn from the Stories of Holocaust Survivors

The stories of the Holocaust survivors are horrific and appalling. The Nazis did horrible things to them and others, acts too horrible to be expressed in words. They tortured other human beings, starved them, worked them to death, burned them, and destroyed their homes. They threw infants into the air and used them for target practice for their machine guns. They separated families, burned religious sanctuaries and killed whole communities. They killed over six million people. Yet some survived who tell us their stories.

The survivors’ stories tell us of selection, gas chambers, starvation, and death marches. The Nazis would give the older people a bar of soap and tell them to have a nice hot shower and then get some rest. They never came out of the showers. They gave everyone else a hunk of bread, a small bowl of watery soup, and made them work all day. After that the Nazis forced them to run for hours in the snow, shooting them if they slowed or stumbled. The survivors tell us of these indescribable evils, tell us how they, and a very few others, persevered. People like Elie Wiesel, and Klaus Stern. We can learn from their stories, and in some ways, follow in their footsteps.

Through love, confidence, and the support of people around us, we can persevere and live for a better life, and let go of anger and hate. The survivors of the Holocaust had to let go of their hate, and concentrate on the positive side of life to survive. The good in their lives throughout the Holocaust was nearly nonexistent, but they held on to it, as well as their love, and faith. Some of the people persecuted by Hitler and the Nazis helped each other through the Holocaust, and helped each other let go of their anger and hate. There were butterflies on the walls of some of the barracks, and children played together. And even now, more than 60 years later, Klaus Stern and Elie Wiesel talk to each other, and are friends. For Elie Wiesel, it was the knowledge that his father was still alive that kept him going. For Klaus Stern, it was his conviction that his wife was still alive, and his religious faith. He sent thoughts to his wife every night telling her that he was alive, and he never doubted that she was alive. Even today, we need someone or something to keep us going. We can not do everything alone.

This isn't all that we can learn. We can help make a world of compassion and peace, and stop anything like the Holocaust from ever happening again. We can do this by telling others what happened, contributing support in our everyday lives, and finding compassion instead of anger and hate. A famous quote says, "He who knows not history is doomed to repeat it." Everyone needs to know what happened, so that no one will be like Hitler and the Nazis.

Contributing support and passing on our knowledge will help prevent people from doing what Hitler did, and help to stop the evil that is even now taking hold of some places in this world. It will also help people to find compassion instead of anger and hate. Hitler and the Nazis hated everyone who did not agree with them, anyone without blond hair, blue eyes, white skin, and anyone who wasn't heterosexual and Christian. To counter prejudice we can treat everyone equally, regardless of their race and beliefs. The stories of the Holocaust survivors tell us what happens to us when evil takes over and ordinary people are coerced into taking part. It is up to us to contribute support and compassion, pass on our knowledge, turn our communities into places where everyone is welcome, and make the world a better place.

After the camps were liberated, some of the survivors went on to lead amazing lives. They went through one of the most horrible atrocities in history, and still became amazing people, people who led lives with meaning, for example, Klaus has been married for 65 years, and he and his wife still love one another. The Holocaust changed the survivors --Klaus has never taken anything for granted since -- but the survivors still came to terms with what they experienced, partly through telling their stories. When I heard Klaus Stern's story, I realized that humans can go through something as horrible as the Holocaust and still be great people brave enough to tell others what they went through. I realized how amazing people can be, and it made me want to be a better person.

These survivors endured more than any living being should ever have to. Yet they survived, and kept their sense of humanity. They kept going, and didn’t give up. For some it was God that kept them going. For others it was love. There were those who did give up, who did succumb to the overwhelming sense of death. But those others who kept going, who survived to be liberated, are amazing people. And those who can tell their stories are heroes. We can learn from their stories, and change our own lives for the better. Hopefully, we will never have to experience anything as horrible as the Holocaust, but even so we will keep with us the things that led the Holocaust survivors to persevere.

Honorable Mention:
Kira Weiner, Grade 8.
Jewish Day School, Bellevue. Teacher: Lois Fein.

Tour Guide through Time

The door whooshes open, and a crowd of eighth graders burst inside the classroom. They are engaged in the usual restless chatter that springs up at about lunch and lasts until the end of the day. They are so absorbed in the conversations, however, that they almost didn’t notice the man standing at the head of the classroom.

He was an older looking guy, with a balding gray head and dark, relaxed eyes. The name “Pete Metzelaar” is scrawled in purple marker on the whiteboard. For a moment the students look strangely at the unfamiliar man, this Pete Metzelaar guy. But then they realize: The Holocaust speaker is here today. There is a scramble as the students fish around their backpacks for their notebooks and pens and shuffle into their seats. The afternoon chatter has died down to a minimum.

Slowly but surely, Pete Metzelaar begins to talk.

At first he introduces himself, the students take notes. So far, his talk isn’t any different from the countless other lectures they have suffered through before. They are prepared for a lecturer.

What they aren’t prepared for is a journey through history.

All of a sudden, the time period in the classroom shifts. The students are no longer in Seattle in 2008. They are in the middle of Nazi Germany in 1930’s. The more Pete Metzelaar talks, the more they delve deeper into the world of the Holocaust. When Pete’s father was taken away from him and his mother, the students choke back sobs. They bombs rained down on the town where he was hiding, they heard the shrieks and booms. And when he finally escaped the war and traveled to America, there was a collective sigh.

Back in 2008.

There is a different emotion in the air now. The room was deathly silent. Someone begins to clap.

 “Thank you,” she is thinking. “Thank you for that trip through time.”

The classroom joins in the applause, with each clap another passenger is coming back into the present.

They all thank their tour guide through time. They will never forget their trip.