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Questions about the Holocaust with Answers from Miriam Grossman

 
Questions asked of Miriam.

01. How do you look at the world after your situation?

02. Why did you survive after many did not survive?

03. How did you recover from the extreme tragedy you faced?

04. What were/are your values in life?

5. What kind of goals did you have while in camp & how did you reach them?

6. How did you prepare yourself mentally for survival?

7. Why didn't many Jews flee the country when they started capturing Jews?

8. What were the circumstances surrounding your capture?

9. What advice do you have for young people today?

10. Did your religion change after going through Auswitz & other camps?

11. Did your religion have a great effect on how you look at life today?

12. What do you tell people about prejudice?

13. What are your feelings about Hitler now & then?

14. How do you feel about war criminals & what should be done with them?

15. Can such tragedy happen again & why if the answer is yes?

 
Answers from Miriam.

1. I realize how important it is to improve our human nature.

2. I don't think one has an answer to this question. It could be destiny, luck, faith or other hidden qualities.

3. By endurance, the will to live, and help from others.

4. I put values in Life: in moral, not in material things.

5. I had no goals: I just waited for the horrors and hardships to end.

6. By intense wishing, hope and prayer.

7. There was no way of escape: we were circled around quickly under armed control.

8. Ours was a mass capture in a blitz occupation by the Germans.

9. To learn a lession from those who experienced it.

10. My religion was not affected because religion has nothing to do with character. There are good and bad people in every group. Each of us has the right to profess our religion as we are brought up or as we choose. We should respect each others religions.

11. I don't look at life just through religion, only through the values it teaches.

12. That prejudice is a moral sickness which has to be treated outside and inside all of us. It is also an injustice and a sin.

13. I could not understand how a poisened person can have such power over others, unless they too carried it in themselves and did profit from it.

14. In a war when both sides are armed, it is a war. Only attackers on unarmed people are criminals and they should be properly prosecuted.

15. Yes, it could happen again if we don't learn from the past and close our eyes and ears to the truth. That's why we should keep this lesson alive for all generations.