Blog: A special Hero Visits the Students of JSN

Meet my Hero. My hero is a Holocaust survivor, Mr. Manny Fischman.

At age 14, he was a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps, but his memories of the cold, hunger and suffering are still fresh. Mr. Fischman, 78, is a regular speaker at our school on this difficult topic. In fact, the first time he ever talked to anyone about his experiences as a prisoner, it was eight years ago when he visited his grand child’s class at JSN. 

After so many years of silence, he finally had the courage to share his unbelievable story of survival. As hard as it is, he always finds the time and the courage, year after year to speak to our children, and our children simply adore and admire him and wish he could come more often to educate them on this difficult topic.

Recalling the tragic time is never easy for Mr Fischman, but he wants the children to hear his message. 

"There are still people who have so much hate in themselves they deny the Holocaust ever happened, but I can tell you it did happen. I saw it with my own eyes," said Fischman as he rolled up his sleeve to show the concentration camp numbers that the Nazis had tattooed on his left arm, a daily reminder of his past. "It wouldn’t be right for all those poor people to pass away and have others say it didn’t happen."

It has been over 66 years since the Holocaust. To survivors, the Holocaust remains real and ever-present, but for some others, 66 years makes the Holocaust seem part of ancient history.

Year-round we try to teach and inform others about the horrors of the Holocaust. We confront the questions of what happened? How did it happen? How could it happen? Could it happen again? We attempt to fight against ignorance with education and against disbelief with proof.
But there is one day in the year when we make a special effort to remember. Upon this one day, we remember those that suffered, those that fought, and those that died. Six million Jews were murdered.