HOLOCAUST TESTIMONY MUST SURVIVE.

Byline: MAXINE FLAM 

Local View

THIS year, April 15 marks not just tax day, but also Holocaust Remembrance Day, a time to remember the evil that was perpetrated on 6 million Jews and numerous other peoples. I have heard the personal stories of three people, one of whom was a survivor of the camps, the other two World War II veterans who witnessed the horror. These are their stories:

"Esther," a family friend, was born and raised in Czechoslovakia. When she was 19, her entire family was shipped off to a concentration camp. Her parents were gassed immediately. Her sister was dying slowly of starvation when the Nazis one day threw her body on top of a pile of corpses. She lay there suffering for days as Esther watched and thought to herself, "Why am I alive?"

When Esther was liberated, she married a fellow camp survivor and emigrated from Europe to the United States. She had three children, but her marriage didn't last. Even decades later, she suffered from terrible paranoia. She always worried that someone was watching her.

So she installed the best locks on her house and bars on her windows. Still, the paranoia continued.

Esther had her number removed from her arm. Maybe she hoped it would help her forget, but over the years I got to know her, I could tell it didn't. A doctor prescribed an anti-anxiety drug to help her sleep. Some nights she would take extra pills, then end up sleeping 14 hours straight. My parents would try to call her, but she would sleep clear through the telephone's ringing.

Four years ago, Esther had a minor stroke. Her daughter, who lives in Israel, came back, sold Esther's house and moved Esther to an assisted-living facility over there. She will be 85 this month.

My father was with the 5th Armored Division, 75th Medical Battalion, during World War II. Dad used to tell many stories about his experiences, but he only told one about the liberation of a concentration camp. When he entered the camp, a survivor walked up to him and said, "What took you so long?" I could see the pain in Dad's eyes when he told that story. He never forgot that for as long as he lived.

My friend Don was a staff sergeant with the 21st Weather Squad attached to the 8th Air Force. Don's unit liberated Buchenwald. He wasn't on the front lines; his job -- and the job of the five men under him -- was to predict the weather so the pilots could take off. But one day his company commander told all the soldiers to get into the trucks because he wanted everyone in the division to see the camp.

The commander assembled the soldiers and said, "All you men will go into this camp and see firsthand what the Nazis did. I want you to remember everything you see here because I want you to tell your children and grandchildren about this. There will be people who will say this never happened, but you will say you witnessed the atrocities firsthand."

My friend Don has told me this story numerous times as if it happened yesterday. He's 88, and he witnessed this event 62 years ago.

The generation that lived through the Holocaust is almost gone. Meanwhile, people like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claim this unspeakable atrocity never happened. We cannot let these lies go unanswered. Nor can we let history repeat itself, as is currently happening in Darfur.

This is why we must preserve the memories of those who witnessed the Holocaust with their own eyes.