Originally posted May 1st, 2015
Yesterday, Mrs. Shotts-Flikkema and I had the opportunity to take our students to the Holocaust Memorial Center in West Bloomfield, MI. Our students were given a tour of the museum by a docent, starting with the rise of Nazism in Germany all the way through the liberation of the concentration camps and the Nuremberg Trials. For some of the students I'm sure some of the information went over their head. Hopefully they grasped the big ideas such as the Nuremberg Laws, the process the Nazis used to get Jews from ghettos to camps and then from the trains to the camps. But what I'm positive they will never forget is listening to Holocaust survivor Paula Marks-Bolton tell them her story.
Paul was 13 years old, living in Poland when Germany invaded in 1939, making her 89 years old today. 2-3 times a week she comes to the center and tells her story with courage and strength and a strong message to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves. Because, no one did that for her. Over and over again she said, "They could do whatever they wanted to us because no one cared". She saw several boys get hung for refusing to wear their Star of David armbands. Her oldest brother escaped to the USSR. Paula saw two of her brothers get taken away, hearing him promise her that he would be back, but she never saw him again. She and what was left of her family were marched to a school and forced to stay there. At one point a guard came to the door of the school, their neighbor, and her mother pleaded for him to let Paula go, he slammed the door in her face. This was someone whose home she'd been in many times, played with his kids and that no longer meant anything. She was taken away from her family and placed with the rest of the children, never to see their parents again. Eventually she was taken to the Lodz Ghetto where a family cared for her, including the wife's sister Ruta. They were given one ration of a week which she said they ate in a day.
Eventually they were taken to Auschwitz on a train, packed in a cattle car without food or water. When she arrived in Auschwitz they were yelling "right" and "left" at them, they quickly hurried to the right, one flash decision that saved her life. Clearly she didn't know what would have happened if she had gone to the left, it was pure chance, but it saved her life because all those who had gone to the left had been sent to the gas chamber, and then to the crematorium. Instead, her line was taken to be disinfected, after collecting their clothes, any gold they might have, and they were shaven down. Up until that moment she had been holding on to a picture of her mother, a picture her mother happened to have on her when they were marched to the school. Her mother had given it to her then, it was the only personal belonging Paula had. As she was being shaved and wiped down the guards noticed she had her fist clenched, they knew she was holding on to something. She wouldn't let go, they began to beat her arm until it fell to the ground.
Once disinfected they were given striped dresses, no underwear.
The next part of Paula's story in no way shocked or surprised me, however, in everything I've read, in everything I've heard, I've never come across a story like this one. All the other prisoners were branded with numbers, she and a group of girls, were not. Paula told us "They had different ideas of what they wanted us for..." She then went on to tell us that the guards would bring this group of girls in to a room, make them strip, and then picked out the most beautiful girl, this time it was Ruta that was chosen. Ruta was torn from Paula's embrace, beaten, and taken away. Paula did not talk about what happened to Ruta, she couldn't, but we all knew what happened to her. Those are the stories I have yet to hear, but again, in no way does it surprise me that this happened, nothing was off limits in the camps.
Paula was quickly moved to another camp which again she told us, she couldn't talk about. She then went to Muhlhausen where she stayed for a while and spoke of a nice German gentlemen who was kind to her and the other girls. Finally, they were marched to Bergen-Belsen, which is where she was when the camp was liberated.
I can only imagine the stories she didn't share with us, whether time wouldn't allow it, or her heart couldn't take it. She told us she still has dreams and I'm sure nightmares about the things she endured. Each time she speaks with visitors it must be emotionally and mentally draining, to relive it. But she continues doing it because she knows how important it is for students to learn about the Holocaust. Her message was clear, love others, accept others, just because people are different from you DOES NOT mean you should TREAT them any differently.
Yesterday, Mrs. Shotts-Flikkema and I had the opportunity to take our students to the Holocaust Memorial Center in West Bloomfield, MI. Our students were given a tour of the museum by a docent, starting with the rise of Nazism in Germany all the way through the liberation of the concentration camps and the Nuremberg Trials. For some of the students I'm sure some of the information went over their head. Hopefully they grasped the big ideas such as the Nuremberg Laws, the process the Nazis used to get Jews from ghettos to camps and then from the trains to the camps. But what I'm positive they will never forget is listening to Holocaust survivor Paula Marks-Bolton tell them her story.
Paul was 13 years old, living in Poland when Germany invaded in 1939, making her 89 years old today. 2-3 times a week she comes to the center and tells her story with courage and strength and a strong message to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves. Because, no one did that for her. Over and over again she said, "They could do whatever they wanted to us because no one cared". She saw several boys get hung for refusing to wear their Star of David armbands. Her oldest brother escaped to the USSR. Paula saw two of her brothers get taken away, hearing him promise her that he would be back, but she never saw him again. She and what was left of her family were marched to a school and forced to stay there. At one point a guard came to the door of the school, their neighbor, and her mother pleaded for him to let Paula go, he slammed the door in her face. This was someone whose home she'd been in many times, played with his kids and that no longer meant anything. She was taken away from her family and placed with the rest of the children, never to see their parents again. Eventually she was taken to the Lodz Ghetto where a family cared for her, including the wife's sister Ruta. They were given one ration of a week which she said they ate in a day.
Eventually they were taken to Auschwitz on a train, packed in a cattle car without food or water. When she arrived in Auschwitz they were yelling "right" and "left" at them, they quickly hurried to the right, one flash decision that saved her life. Clearly she didn't know what would have happened if she had gone to the left, it was pure chance, but it saved her life because all those who had gone to the left had been sent to the gas chamber, and then to the crematorium. Instead, her line was taken to be disinfected, after collecting their clothes, any gold they might have, and they were shaven down. Up until that moment she had been holding on to a picture of her mother, a picture her mother happened to have on her when they were marched to the school. Her mother had given it to her then, it was the only personal belonging Paula had. As she was being shaved and wiped down the guards noticed she had her fist clenched, they knew she was holding on to something. She wouldn't let go, they began to beat her arm until it fell to the ground.
Once disinfected they were given striped dresses, no underwear.
The next part of Paula's story in no way shocked or surprised me, however, in everything I've read, in everything I've heard, I've never come across a story like this one. All the other prisoners were branded with numbers, she and a group of girls, were not. Paula told us "They had different ideas of what they wanted us for..." She then went on to tell us that the guards would bring this group of girls in to a room, make them strip, and then picked out the most beautiful girl, this time it was Ruta that was chosen. Ruta was torn from Paula's embrace, beaten, and taken away. Paula did not talk about what happened to Ruta, she couldn't, but we all knew what happened to her. Those are the stories I have yet to hear, but again, in no way does it surprise me that this happened, nothing was off limits in the camps.
Paula was quickly moved to another camp which again she told us, she couldn't talk about. She then went to Muhlhausen where she stayed for a while and spoke of a nice German gentlemen who was kind to her and the other girls. Finally, they were marched to Bergen-Belsen, which is where she was when the camp was liberated.
I can only imagine the stories she didn't share with us, whether time wouldn't allow it, or her heart couldn't take it. She told us she still has dreams and I'm sure nightmares about the things she endured. Each time she speaks with visitors it must be emotionally and mentally draining, to relive it. But she continues doing it because she knows how important it is for students to learn about the Holocaust. Her message was clear, love others, accept others, just because people are different from you DOES NOT mean you should TREAT them any differently.