By the end of this lesson you will have read and seen six survivors
reflect upon how they remained alive. Perhaps you are noticing
similarities, and differences, in their experiences. There is
one common thread in all of their recollections you may not
have noticed. Our presenters were all young during the events
of the Holocaust. Is this a reason they survived? Perhaps.
Certainly when people were first brought to the camps they were
lined up and "selected", by a quick glance, to move
either right or left. To go right was to go to the concentration
camp. To go left was to go to immediate death, often by gas
chamber. People in the long line ups did not know this. Many
who survived have spoken about how they did not know it would
be the last time they would see their mother, grandfather or
brother. The people selected to go left were chosen because
they looked to young, to old, to ill or to feeble to work in
the camps or factories. So, those who were of teen age years
were more likely to be sent to the right. Age may have been
a factor of survival for some.
But there is another reason all of our presenters were young
during the Holocaust. Many of the older survivors have now died.
There are only mostly the younger ones left to tell of their
experiences. The question to consider is - what happens when
the last of the Holocaust survivors passes away? Will the memory
of the Holocaust pass away with them?
Perhaps by learning from this module and other resources, and
by thinking about the Holocaust and its implications for today,
you will carry the legacy of these brave survivors into the
future. How? You honor the lives of those who died through resisting
hatred and racism whenever you meet it.
Our last presenter is Peter P. He works tirelessly to share
his painful experiences with the next generation. He believes
that this is a powerful way to assure that a Holocaust won't
happen again. Peter is a founding member of the Victoria Holocaust
Remembrance and Education Society. The VHRES sponsors yearly
Holocaust Symposiums for high school students in Victoria, BC,
Canada. It also sponsors the Holocaust Education web site HopeSite
(http://www.hopesite.ca), and this Holocaust Education
On-line Learning Center.
Peter
was born in Austria, and lived in Czechoslovakia as a boy. He
survived the camps in Auschwitz and Dachau, and worked in the
Warsaw ghetto. Read
his story now.
When
you have finished reading and thinking about Peter's experiences,
please select "Lesson
Ending" from the menu bar below. Here you will have an opportunity
to share your thoughts and feelings about what you have learned
in this module.
