Holocaust survivor lifts her voice urging others to fight injustice |
| Posted by Administrator on Mar 04 2009 at 2:58 PM |
Photo by Josh Moody
Holocaust survior Manya Friedman spoke to a packed house on Feb. 24, in the Miriam Drake Theatre. Detained in a Nazi concentration camp from 1943 to 1945, she forced to labor for the Nazi war effort.
By Sara Quisenberry
Antelope Staff
Even at the time of her rescue in 1945, Manya Friedman could not believe what had happened, the events of more than two years had unfolded through a veil too terrible to be lifted.
Mention the term "holocaust" and most will tell you that this was one of the most horrific times in the world's history.
Anyone who denies this part of history walked out of the Miriam Drake Theatre on Feb. 23 a firm believe that those "lies" were indeed the truth- the horrible truth.
Friedman, an 83-year-old survivor of the holocaust, shared her emotional story of power, determination and the will to fight for her life with an overflowing audience that lined the walls of the theater, sat in aisles and stood in doorways trying to hear about her extraordinary experiences. Hearing about the atrocities, seeing movies and reading books about the holocaust could not prepare the audience for the emotional shock waves Friedman's speech would send through them.
The presentation started with a short film about the United States Holocaust Museum, where Friedman volunteers and is an active member of the museum's speakers bureau. The video emphasized that the gruesome details of the holocaust must continue to be taught because genocide and hateful discrimination still continue today all around the world. The video explained the efforts of the museum and its partners to stop the cruelty.
Then, Manya Friedman took the stage quietly behind the podium, beginning her speech still thick with her Polish accent.
"The holocaust was a large part in our history and it didn't just 'happen.' It was very well and methodically executed," she said. "The main goal was to exterminate all European Jews, but they murdered millions of others: gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, even their own people. Anybody that didn't fit the 'superior race.'"
Friedman gave the audience a brief family background. She was born in central Poland, the town of Chmielnik, and was 13 when the war started. She had two younger brothers and had numerous family members, as well as friendships, in her small town. Once the war started, Germany invaded all of the towns in Poland, and in 1941 Friedman was forced to get a job at a German company as a seamstress sewing uniforms for the German soldiers.
In 1943, the SS Soldiers surrounded Friedman at the building where she worked just as her shift ended, and she was bound for deployment. Her family rushed some clothing and memorabilia to her as soon as they heard the news.
"I saw my parents age maybe 20 years, right in front of my eyes before I got deported. That was the last time I saw my parents," Friedman said in a shaky voice.
Friedman was then taken to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland where she and thousands of other prisoners were stripped of their belongings. She had to walk nude in front of the Gestapo and was tattooed with numbers on her forearm.
"We had to go through showers, we had to go through inspection to see if we were hiding something, and naked we had to walk in front of a bunch of Gestapo to have our arms tattooed," Friedman said. "To this day, I can't forget the embarrassment."
Friedman recalled. "I was number 79357. I was no longer 'Manya.' We were only numbers to them. But they took away more than just our names that day."
Friedman told of her time spent at Auschwitz and also about the evacuation of Auschwitz in January 1945, as the Russian forces neared the territory. After a ten-day train car journey in the bitter cold, huddled together with other prisoners, each with only a thin blanket to wrap around them, she ended up in Ravensbruck concentration camp, which she described as "hell."
After months, Friedman was called forward at roll call one morning and was ordered onto a white truck. Of course, she said, she thought the worst- being called forward never ended positively.
Once on the truck, Friedman and ten others devoured a care package full of food, thinking it would be their last meal.
But, after a long ride, they arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark, where they learned that through negotiations by the Swedish Red Cross they had been rescued. Friedman and the others received warm clothes and a health inspection. They hesitated, however, when told to take a shower, as the only showers they had witnessed in the past few years leaked out gas instead of water.
They spent only a few days in a school that was a makeshift rescue center before they heard news that the war had finally ended in late April of 1945.
Friedman explained that even though they received wonderful treatment and hospitality while in Copenhagen, she felt like she was standing aside watching through a sheer curtain.
"I could not comprehend that we really were outside of the camps," she said.
When the war ended, Manya Friedman was 19 years old with only one friend and four relatives who had survived the concentration camps. In 1950 she finally received a visa to migrate to the U.S., and she began talking of her experiences only 11 years ago.
"Every time I talk about my story, I am living the past again. But we are the only ones who can bear witness and it must be told," Friedman said.
She ended her speech stressing that we live in a nation where people do have a voice and can be heard. By listening to stories such as hers, we can prevent the past from happening again.
Friedman closed with these words: "Don't judge. Be tolerant. Do speak up when you see injustice done and use your potentials to make the country and world a better place."
