Victor Vital, a Holocaust survivor. His story moved me deeply. “I was born in Greece in a town called Patras in Peloponnese. I was 12 when the Holocaust began on 9 November 1938. That night was called Kristallnacht, which means night of the broken glass. That night, the Germans struck down on the Jews. Over 100 synagogues were destroyed around Germany. I remember my father say, “we have to leave immediately.” We fled to the mountains, where we lived in an old barn. We slept on a bed of stones. We scavenged and ate greens, and righteous gentiles would give us wheat. I had never experienced hunger like that. (Please, you must not let people go hungry.) It was November in the mountains and I remember the cold. Such cold. We couldn’t light a fire for fear we would be seen by the Nazis, so we huddled together for warmth. We were in hiding for two years. We returned and found our home entirely destroyed. Of the 265 Jews living in Patras, only 152 survived. Of those taken to concentration camps, only one returned. The Holocaust means ‘destruction of life by fire.’ It ws beastiality of the worst kind. My friend Sam from Athens once penned this quote, “No pen sharp enough to write what happened. No mind big enough to comprehend.” 72 years later, still today, I see nightmares of agony and fear. Of Nazis coming to get me. I am telling you my story because we must know. We must know lest it happen again. So we know how to defend. 2 words I leave you. Never again.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 22:07:49 +0000
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