The German Soldier Who Had to Die
The German soldier described here portrays my feelings toward him and all the German soldiers I met, who never recognized me as a Jew.
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Echoes of Memory provides survivors who volunteer at the Museum with a powerful outlet to share their experiences and memories—through their own writing. In these videos, survivors who participated in the workshop read a selection of their essays.
This program is one way the Museum enables eyewitnesses to the Holocaust to help new generations gain insight and understanding of Holocaust history from a deeply personal perspective.
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Polana, Czechoslovakia
My grandfather, Mayer Weiss, lived in Polana before World War I, when the village was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After World War I, Czechoslovakia was established and included the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Karpatska Russ (Carpathian Russ), where we lived.
Tommy Guns and Other War Toys
Following the liberation of Belgium in September 1944, my parents, siblings, and I came out of hiding and our lives started returning to normal. As a child born shortly before the start of World War II, my memory of a “normal” life was very limited. We got back together as a family and soon after moved into a row house at 33 rue Paul Leduc, in a quiet neighborhood of Brussels where we knew no other Jews. Whether that was a choice or happenstance, I don’t know.
The Yellow Badge
My grandmother had a box filled with buttons, threads, and pieces of fabric.
A Monument, a Museum, a Sculpture
There is no other monumental structure more powerful than the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
A Furtive Thing
When you are five and a half years old, at what point do you start crying because you haven’t seen your mother?
The Price I Paid for Survival
Our feelings are always there—waiting, attuned, alert, and yearning for attachment. So we were created. Such is the path of our lives.
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Survivor Reflections and Testimonies
Listen to or read Holocaust survivors’ experiences, told in their own words through oral histories, written testimony, and public programs.