CHILD SURVIVOR OF HOLOCAUST TELLS HER STORY.Byline: Brandon Lowrey Staff Writer WOODLAND HILLS -- From the stage of a darkened dark·en v. dark·ened, dark·en·ing, dark·ens v.tr. 1. a. To make dark or darker. b. To give a darker hue to. 2. To fill with sadness; make gloomy. 3. school auditorium Thursday, Holocaust survivor Marie Kaufman told a group of youths about her life in a tiny village in southern France Southern France (or the South of France), colloquially known as Le Midi, is a loosely defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Gironde, Spain, the Mediterranean Sea, Italy, and Switzerland south of the nearly 70 years ago when children their age shielded her and her family from Nazi troops. "Think about what it would be like for you to help save someone," the 66-year-old daughter of Polish refugees told the approximately 100 Hale Middle School students. "My hope is that you, too, when you see there is something that is wrong, you can stand up. You don't have to be an adult." Kaufman was just barely able to walk when she hid in the village of Milhars. But five teenagers played with her and made sure she didn't wander anywhere German occupiers might see her. And it proved a difficult job, she said, because she had a tendency to wander across a well-traveled rural highway near her family's hiding spot. "I used to love to run out on the highway and talk to strangers," she said. The teens played just one part in what Kaufman called a "silent conspiracy of goodwill" to protect her family. The factory where her father worked denied knowing where he was. The town's mayor and priest procured fake identification and baptismal bap·tism n. 1. A religious sacrament marked by the symbolic use of water and resulting in admission of the recipient into the community of Christians. 2. records for the hidden families. The town's police, ordered by Nazis to find the Jews, never searched hard enough to find anyone. And countless others in the village risked their lives by keeping quiet about the hidden Jews. Some even died helping them. Kaufman showed the students photographs of her family, some of whom died in concentration camps and ghettos. And she worried that their stories will eventually fade as survivors die off. "You are now witnesses," she told the students. Many of the students in the audience said they couldn't believe that something so scary and brutal had actually happened in recent history. "It's crazy how it happened. It's weird," said Chance Smith, 13. Daniel Roberts Daniel Roberts, born 1969, in New York City. Playwright, Editor, Educator. B.A. (1992) and M.A. (1994) from the University of Pennsylvania. Edited the literary magazine Press from 1995-2000. , 14, said his own ancestors Ancestors See also father; heredity; mother; origins; parents; race. archaism an inclination toward old-fashioned things, speech, or actions, especially those of one’s ancestors. Also archaicism. — archaist, n. were killed in the Holocaust. "It seems a little weird that somebody would want to do that to a group of people," he said. "It's a little bit unbelievable." Karin Meron and Rebecca Schulman, both 12 and Jewish, huddled hud·dle n. 1. A densely packed group or crowd, as of people or animals. 2. Football A brief gathering of a team's players behind the line of scrimmage to receive instructions for the next play. 3. together afterward af·ter·ward also af·ter·wards adv. At a later time; subsequently. Adv. 1. afterward - happening at a time subsequent to a reference time; "he apologized subsequently"; "he's going to the store but he'll be back here . They said they found it heartwarming heart·warm·ing or heart-warm·ing adj. 1. Causing gladness and pleasure. 2. Eliciting sympathy and tender feelings: a heartwarming tale. Adj. 1. to hear that so many people in the village risked their lives to save others. When asked what they'd do if they were in such a situation, they said they'd fib, too. "We'd say they weren't there," Karin said. Kaufman says she still visits the town every year to thank the villagers who protected her, and to collect their stories. Twelve-year-old Dani Giglia stayed in the auditorium with Kaufman after her classmates Classmates can refer to either:
What would she do if a Nazi had come to her door, asking where her friends were? "I wouldn't say anything. I'd be so scared," she said, laughing nervously. Later in the day, when she goes home or runs into her friends, Dani said she will have a thing or two to say about Kaufman's tale. "I'm gonna gon·na Informal Contraction of going to: We're gonna win today. tell the whole story over again." brandon.lowrey(at)dailynews.com 818-713-3699 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) Marie Kaufman speaks to eighth-graders at Hale Middle School in Woodland Hills on Thursday morning about her experiences as a child Holocaust survivor. Below, family photos accompany Kaufman on stage. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
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