A remembrance service took place Monday night in the Egan Chapel to honor the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The event was sponsored by the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies, Campus Ministry and Kadima.
During Holocaust Memorial Week, we remember the lost men, women and children and acknowledge crimes against humanity are still committed today. By remembering and educating, we reduce ignorance and the possibility of the horror occurring again.
People at the remembrance read meditations, psalms, poems and lit candles. But the part of the service that seemed to affect the audience the most was Holocaust survivor Abe Baron’s vivid account of his life in a ghetto, work camp and death camp.
He was born in Warsaw, Poland as the youngest of six, but when the war ended he was the only Baron survivor.
“What was so special about me? I made myself a promise to do whatever I could to survive. Of course, it was easier said than done, but I worked hard,” he said.
He was first introduced to the war when he was 15, after a bombing in his town. His building was destroyed, killing 100 people including his mother, sister, nephew and sister-in-law’s mother.
Soon after the bombings, Baron lived for months in a single room in the Warsaw ghetto with seven members of his surviving family. He saw starvation, disease, cold and shootings.
He was the only member of his family who went to work at a labor camp, where he almost died of poor conditions and physical abuse. But Baron’s life was spared when he was chosen as one of the 50 laborers that the Nazis let return to the ghetto.
During 1942, Baron woke up to find the Warsaw ghetto abandoned. In search of his remaining family, he went to Treblinka, a Nazi camp.
Baron was not aware Treblinka was an extermination camp and so he got in line with the other Jews, hoping he would be reunited with his family.
“We were treated like garbage but counted all the time. Were they playing a trick on us that they really cared how many of us there were? Were they really interested?” Baron asked.
A Nazi picked him out of the death line because he was in good physical condition to either be experimented on or to become a worker. Because of this, Baron’s life was spared again.
Baron described beatings, medical experimentations and horrible living conditions that only worsened in the work camps as the war progressed.
“What prevented me from losing my life? Someone out there intervened on my behalf. There is no question it was divine intervention,” Baron said.
Baron’s account helps combat prejudice and build respect for diversity in the world. We are reminded this week to spread goodness throughout the world. Humanity’s efforts must leave no room for evil, hatred and violence.
“Thank you for enabling me to fulfill my obligation and desire to tell my story. I am grateful to be given this opportunity,” Baron said as he left the podium.
Leave a Reply