My dear Holocaust survivor friend Helen is not doing very well right now. For those of you who know her, or of her, I ask that you pray or at least keep positive thoughts for this amazing lady. For those of you who do not know of her, I am sharing a sneak peak, a preview of one of the books I am writing that is inspired by her. This one should be published in e-book form next month.I am sharing the introduction of that book with you here. Your feedback is welcomed.

Introduction

First-hand witnesses to one of the worst events in recent history will soon be a thing of the past. With many Holocaust survivors passing away each day, it won’t be long before we must rely on textbooks and second-generation testimony to learn of the atrocities that they experienced during the reign of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. For a while longer, though, we still have this valuable resource, and many continue to share their stories with one audience after another, despite the pain of reliving the horrific events that we cannot even begin to imagine.

One might wonder not only how they are able to retell these details day after day, but more importantly, why? Most will tell you that they do this to disprove the deniers and to be the voice of their friends and loved ones who did not survive to speak for themselves. Some of their messages are unexpected, while others leave a strong impact on the recipient. All of them, though, should be heeded.

This book is the result of befriending an amazing woman named Helen. As an 87 year-young Holocaust survivor, her strength, grace, and amazing testimony instantly provided me with a hero and role model. Hearing of her capture as a 15 year-old girl in Poland is hard enough to handle, but when she talks of her starvation, her whippings as a result of trying to take food, and the Treblinka gassing of her younger brother, sister, and parents, it is absolutely heart-wrenching.

Thankfully, she had four other siblings with her during most of her two labor camp and five concentration camp incarceration, which spanned over three-and-a-half years (followed by four years in a displaced person camp).

When asked why she continues to share her painful story over and over again to large groups of students and others, she makes it clear that there were many girls left behind to die during a death march that she survived. She speaks for them as she still remembers them lying there, too weak to move on, and waving their arms, calling to be helped. Yet, Helen and the others would have been shot by the Nazis had they tried to help their friends, former schoolmates, even family members. It is for them that she speaks and relives the horrors that consumed far too large a portion of her life.

Having heard Helen deliver this message to hundreds of students and teachers over the past three years has taught me about humility, courage, strength, and the importance of keeping history alive for future generations. Becoming her friend has absolutely changed my life. For these reasons, I have promised her, and every other survivor I have met, that I will devote a large portion of my own life keeping their stories alive, so future generations do not have to learn about them from a simple paragraph in a textbook, and so everyone understands that these horrific events did happen, regardless of how they may get watered down with the passing of time. The following includes messages from some of the survivors I have met, and many others who concur, that they feel you must know to keep their messages alive.