On Thursday, March 15, 2012, the Freshman class was fortunate enough to meet with Holocaust survivors. Approximately twenty Holocaust survivors visited Pine Crest School to share their personal stories with the ninth grade class. We would like to thank Mrs. Hedy Rosenbaum, the coordinator of the Holocaust Awareness Program, who has for many years organized this incredible opportunity for Pine Crest High School students. On this day, our eyes were opened to the trauma and utter sorrow that the Holocaust caused.

I heard the story of Mr. Sam Solnick. Every detail of Mr. Solnick’s story painted a picture in my mind, allowing me to come closer to imagining this horror. He was about sixteen when he was removed from his home and sent into a ghetto somewhere in Poland with his family. His life in Poland, like most other Polish Jews, was stolen from him, and replaced with a life that no one deserves. His family was then moved to Auschwitz, where he, his brothers, and his father were separated from his mother and his sisters because the men were electricians and could be used to work. Mr. Solnick never saw his mother and his sisters again. Although every survivor has a similar story, Mr. Solnick’s story was unique, in that he was moved to nine different camps and survived all nine. He survived hunger, bullets, freezing cold, and beatings. He survived alone, but he survived. Mr. Solnick said that by the time he reached the ninth camp, he was ready to give up. He covered himself in blankets and lay on the ground. A German soldier stepped on him while searching for Jews. This German soldier began beating Mr. Solnick, but Mr. Solnick did not fight back. The soldier than said to him in German, “You are dead to me.” At this point in the assembly, Mr. Solnick began to cry. He paused before he could continue. He finally said, “The only reason for living at that point was to share my story.” Mr. Solnick still constantly asks himself why he survived yet his family didn’t. He knows that there is no answer, but he still asks. He also constantly asks why G-d did not intervene. “How could God let this happen?” he repeated, and to this question, no one will ever know the answer.

At the assembly, one of the survivors mentioned that they had witnessed a German officer being beaten, and yet she found no satisfaction from watching this. The question that constantly runs through my mind is, “how could the Nazis and those who followed them feel good about hurting and killing innocent human beings? How could they look at the victims of the Holocaust in such a different way than their own families? How can someone hate so strongly?” It just doesn’t make sense.

I remember almost every detail of Mr. Solnick’s tragic story. Learning about the Holocaust in textbooks does not compare to hearing another human being speaking from the heart. Every survivor has something different to tell. We each spoke to one survivor, one out of the hundreds of thousands who have a story.

At one point during the assembly, one of the students in my group asked, “Were there any German soldiers who had compassion?” Mr. Solnick chuckled, immediately saying absolutely not. They had no compassion whatsoever. In fact, many non- Jews who lived in Germany, Poland, and other European countries helped the Nazis by pointing out those who were Jewish. Mr. Solnick also told us that there were other brave people who supported the Jews and tried to help, putting their lives at risk. Although it seems as though most of us would choose to help if we were put in this situation, would you put your life at risk to save the future of a group of people, to save one person? This is the question that many asked themselves, and although there were many who did nothing or betrayed their friends and neighbors, there were many people who risked their lives to help.

After observing Mr. Solnick for two hours, I came to a conclusion: The Holocaust is unimaginable. As hard as we try to put ourselves in the survivors’ shoes, it is impossible to envision such evil treatment of other human beings.  Although we will never know what it was truly like to endure such pain, speaking with a survivor brought me closer to understanding. It is our duty to pass on these stories, because we can never let something so terrible happen again.

 Never Again

“le-olam lo od”

לעולם לא עוד