Holocaust survivor speaks to students about painful memories

Holocaust survivor Ben Lesser doesn’t need a serial number tattoo to remind him of his childhood spent in a concentration camp. He said he will have the experience etched in his mind forever.

During his time imprisoned by the Nazis, Lesser witnessed innumerable horrors. He was pistol whipped, starved and stabbed. He lost family members. But he never lost his faith, he said.

“Why was I so fortunate to live?” Lesser said. “God needed a witness.”

To cope with his memories, Lesser said, one of the most therapeutic exercises is sharing his story with younger generations. On Tuesday, he told his story to more than 300 students at the Las Vegas Academy, 315 South 7th St.

Lesser described the experience as “five years of living hell on earth.” He said he lost everyone in his family except for his sister Lola, who is an artist in New York. She has painted several pieces of her memories from a Jewish ghetto in Poland, he said.

In 1944, Lesser said he was transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he lost the remaining members of his family. Lesser said he had to fall asleep at night to the sound of people screaming and burning in fire pits.

“Fire is one of the methods that [Adolf] Hilter used to almost completely annihilate the Jewish population of the earth,” Lesser said.

Lesser asked students to never forget the Holocaust. He handed out 300 “remembrance” pins from his Zachor Holocaust Remembrance Foundation. Lesser said he received his first pin from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and has since given out 25,000 pins.

In conjunction with Lesser’s speech, the Las Vegas Academy Theatre is putting on a play called “I Never Saw Another Butterfly.”

Director Melissa Lilly said the play is based on the true story of an art teacher named Raja Englanderova, who was sent to a concentration camp and survived through art. She said lead actress Rebecca Carrol contacted Lesser and asked him to come speak to the cast.

Junior Sarah Niederman said she met Lesser after winning an essay contest in middle school. She said Lesser’s message and appearance is important to students because there aren’t many Holocaust survivors left.

“We are the last generation and soon there will only be newsreels and books,” Niederman said. She said that technology will not be able to replace the feeling everyone in the room felt during Lesser’s speech.

“I Never Saw Another Butterfly” will premiere on Oct. 8 at the Las Vegas Academy Black Box Theatre, 315 South 7th St., with an admission of $10.

Listen to the full audio track here.

Controversial Photos Throughout History

I'm writing a paper for my ethics class about a controversial photograph and whether or not to run it in print. I chose to write about a Buddhist monk committing suicide on a street corner by lighting himself on fire. The monk was one of seven that did this in 1963 to protest against the South Vietnamese government banning the celebration of Buddha's birthday.

While searching for this photograph, I stumbled across a couple of photos I would like to share. Comment or write me at tiffanyg89@hotmail.com and let me know what impact these photos might have on you.

Teacher's sarcasm on Holocaust causes uproar

A Minneapolis 8th grade teacher sent an e-mail to faculty entitled "Torture Time!" asking for suggestions for a Holocaust simulation she was planning for her class.

The e-mail asks teachers to participate in a day of sheer pleasure where they become Nazi Officers and Adolfs.

School Principal Coleman McDonough said that the teacher was trying to be sarcastic and humorous. He said the e-mail was in poor judgment.

The e-mail also stated that children would be forced to wear yellow stars, and would actually have to pay $10 for them. The teacher said that if they died during the project then she would keep their money, and for those who couldn't afford the badges she said she would threaten detention. If the students managed to survive then she would return the money.

While I believe this teacher went about the project the wrong way, I believe she originally had a good agenda. She wanted to bring the seriousness of the Holocaust to life, but that's hard to believe when she's practically joking in an e-mail.

The Holocaust killed nearly 6 million Jews, so bringing attention to it is important in the classroom. But reenacting and joking about it is not.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS
Original e-mail in Adobe