Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Darrell's reflections on the interview
It's been about a month now since we met Ms. Firestone and mostly everything has been said by my group-mates and myself. But what still stands out to me and what I haven't digested is that she said her life was saved from going on a death march. That is remarkable to me, that the "death march" saved her life, because it sent her from Auschwitz to a forced labor camp. And after being there for four months the camp was liberated by the Russians. Which to me just gets weirder, because a Russian officer tells her that his men will be pillaging so stay inside out of sight until they have moved on because if not she would probably be raped. Being raped by your liberators was a concept I never imagined. And then being released with no food, money, or extra clothes, just having the things you have at the camp and having to fend for yourself as you try to make your way back to your homeland. That to me is probably the most remarkable part of the story. Yeah you're free but things haven't really gotten any better.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Renee's reasons for dedicating her life to becoming a "storyteller"
Hey all, Karen here, I want to elaborate on the story of how Renee became a "storyteller." Alyssa briefly mentioned it, but I think it's worth hearing the whole story because it speaks volumes about this amazing woman. After hearing her speak at the Museum of Tolerance we, as a group of 4, were allowed some private time with her to ask questions. I posed the question "how did you begin to tell your story and why? Her response touched my heart more than you can imagine. Renee stated that she was contacted, by phone at home, by a man (she didn't remember his name) who was involved with Simon Wiesenthal and his endeavors to start the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum (The Museum of Tolerance) here in Los Angeles. He stated that they wanted her to come and share her story of survival with the public. Her own words were that she laughed at him and hung up the phone. At the time, Renee was a Professor of Fashion Design, at UCLA, and had a prosperous career and was very content with her life. Two days later she claimed that she suffered from her first ever Holocaust nightmare, waking herself in the middle of the night hearing her own voice screaming "They said it wouldn't happen again, they said it wouldn't happen again." This stunned her. This phone call spurred the memories for her. The next day, while reading the morning paper, she found a story about a synagogue in Los Angeles that had been burned to the ground. She said that from that very minute she knew that her life had to be dedicated to informing the public about the horrors or it would just keep happening. That was 32 years ago and she does not regret the turn her life took. She is proud of what she has accomplished. Now you too can realize what Renee and the many others that share their stories with this generation mean to future generations. But most of all, for me personally, she is a woman I will never forget for so many reasons!!!!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Alyssa's Reaction to Watching The Last Days
After meeting with Renee, our group decided to view Steven Spielberg's documentary that she participated in, The Last Days. While we had heard Renee's story first hand, she gave not only more detail, but in the documentary we got to see her firsthand reactions to stories she had shared with us, such as her meeting with Dr. Munch and her experience going back to her hometown in Hungary and finding her house. The documentary not only followed Renee and a number of other survivors as they went back to Auschwitz and their hometowns across Eastern Europe with their families, but it also showed detailed footage of the camps. Some of the footage was extremely difficult to watch, and I know myself and some of the others needed to look away at times.
But for me, the most moving part of the documentary was watching Renee's experience in her hometown showing her husband and daughter what it used to be like for her growing up. It was so sad watching her go up to her childhood house and then tell her family she wished she had never come back. But as sad as it was to watch, it also made me want to go back to Poland where my family is from and go back to Auschwitz. Although I have been before, I never felt once would be enough and watching the documentary inspired me to go again this summer. Overall, listening to Renee's stories and experiences makes me even more grateful to her and other survivors that they did survive and are open about their horrific stories so that not only will it not happen again, but I get to be here and be safe as a Jewish person in both Europe and America.
But for me, the most moving part of the documentary was watching Renee's experience in her hometown showing her husband and daughter what it used to be like for her growing up. It was so sad watching her go up to her childhood house and then tell her family she wished she had never come back. But as sad as it was to watch, it also made me want to go back to Poland where my family is from and go back to Auschwitz. Although I have been before, I never felt once would be enough and watching the documentary inspired me to go again this summer. Overall, listening to Renee's stories and experiences makes me even more grateful to her and other survivors that they did survive and are open about their horrific stories so that not only will it not happen again, but I get to be here and be safe as a Jewish person in both Europe and America.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Alyssa's Experience Meeting Renee
I was very excited and nervous to meet Renee, but nervous more because I knew I would have so many questions. I have been very fortunate to have met several survivors before and am always grateful to hear a new story. Each story is so unique and unimaginable that I find being in a survivor's presence to be surreal, even when it is someone related to me.
Upon hearing Renee's talk I did not know very much about her other than that she was an Auschwitz survivor and had been involved with Holocaust memoriam for quite a while. She spoke very eloquently and honestly in front of a group of strangers no less. For the first few minutes she spoke about the war and I was surprised to hear how aware her and her family and neighbors were of what was going on. Granted by the time she went to the camps the war had been waging for over five years, it was still difficult to imagine being a teenager living life and knowing that it was only a matter of time.
When Renee began to describe her journey to the camp and her arrival I was in awe of her. The fact that she was greeted by Dr. Mengele, one of the most evil and famous figure from the Holocaust, and stood up to him and then survived was mesmerizing. Renee told us that she was about twenty years old when she arrived at Auschwitz. She was at her prime and looked quite Aryan, hence she was directed to the right immediately. But her sister was a few years younger with brown hair and brown eyes, so Mengele had a tougher decision. Renee ran back and grabbed her sister, which typically would have been grounds for immediate death. Miraculously, Renee survived three different encounters with Mengele through the duration of the war.
Every time I hear a survivor story I am amazed at how many miracles and coincidences they experience, and Renee was no exception. I was particularly curious about her liberation experience and what happened in the years following the war. Sadly, Renee lost almost her entire family, but while wandering through Europe in the months following D-Day, she ran into her brother. Renee ended up moving to the United States and went on to get married, raise a family, and have a successful fashion design career. Unlike many survivors, Renee did not experience any nightmares or felt haunted by her experience until thirty years later when she was asked to speak about her experience. She said she had not really ever spoken about it and that that night she had her first nightmare. Since then she had made a career out of sharing her story and has dedicated her life to never allowing others to forget.
I felt so honored just to be in her presence and get to ask questions in an intimate setting. After leaving the museum that day I felt so grateful that she and so many others survived so that we get the opportunity to hear the personal stories first hand. In a few generations that will not be possible as the last remaining survivors pass on. I also left that day feeling grateful to the survivors that they did survive so that today, I am free to be Jewish publicly. I feel that in large part because they survived, I get to be free today.
Upon hearing Renee's talk I did not know very much about her other than that she was an Auschwitz survivor and had been involved with Holocaust memoriam for quite a while. She spoke very eloquently and honestly in front of a group of strangers no less. For the first few minutes she spoke about the war and I was surprised to hear how aware her and her family and neighbors were of what was going on. Granted by the time she went to the camps the war had been waging for over five years, it was still difficult to imagine being a teenager living life and knowing that it was only a matter of time.
When Renee began to describe her journey to the camp and her arrival I was in awe of her. The fact that she was greeted by Dr. Mengele, one of the most evil and famous figure from the Holocaust, and stood up to him and then survived was mesmerizing. Renee told us that she was about twenty years old when she arrived at Auschwitz. She was at her prime and looked quite Aryan, hence she was directed to the right immediately. But her sister was a few years younger with brown hair and brown eyes, so Mengele had a tougher decision. Renee ran back and grabbed her sister, which typically would have been grounds for immediate death. Miraculously, Renee survived three different encounters with Mengele through the duration of the war.
Every time I hear a survivor story I am amazed at how many miracles and coincidences they experience, and Renee was no exception. I was particularly curious about her liberation experience and what happened in the years following the war. Sadly, Renee lost almost her entire family, but while wandering through Europe in the months following D-Day, she ran into her brother. Renee ended up moving to the United States and went on to get married, raise a family, and have a successful fashion design career. Unlike many survivors, Renee did not experience any nightmares or felt haunted by her experience until thirty years later when she was asked to speak about her experience. She said she had not really ever spoken about it and that that night she had her first nightmare. Since then she had made a career out of sharing her story and has dedicated her life to never allowing others to forget.
I felt so honored just to be in her presence and get to ask questions in an intimate setting. After leaving the museum that day I felt so grateful that she and so many others survived so that we get the opportunity to hear the personal stories first hand. In a few generations that will not be possible as the last remaining survivors pass on. I also left that day feeling grateful to the survivors that they did survive so that today, I am free to be Jewish publicly. I feel that in large part because they survived, I get to be free today.
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