Embedded Files
This project was started by Samantha Feinberg in an effort to remember and honor survivors of the Holocaust. With it being over 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, many survivors are getting old. In an effort to keep their memories alive and educate future generations, Keeping Voice Alive has asked survivors to share some words of wisdom and what they would like future generations to know. Messages have come directly from survivors via email, interviews, and survivors personal websites.
Survivors, Family Members, and Advocates: If you are interested in submitting some words to this project, please contact me. Email information is located on the home/about page.
"NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER LOSE HOPE and enjoy the life you’ve been given. NEVER BE A PERPETRATOR. But most importantly, NEVER, EVER BE A BY-STANDER. The greatest tragedy in human history, the Holocaust and all the genocides, happened because the world stood by and did nothing. As a bystander, you are part of the problem. BE PART OF THE SOLUTION."
"To me ‘Never Again!’ is really that. 50 years from now somebody should know that it existed, and if you are not careful and if you don’t stand by and don’t say anything, it’s going to happen again."
"We can’t control what’s happening. But we can choose how we respond to it. Don’t dwell on what you could have done or should have done. Live in the present. It’s what now, not why me?"
“I pray you never stand at any crossroads in your own lives, but if you do, if the darkness seems so total, if you think there is no way out, remember, never ever give up.”
"My message to the youth of today is to be as tolerant and as accepting of all different human beings—whatever religion, whatever color, whatever culture, whatever their mode of living is, and try and make this world a better place. And that is my message, that is why I tell my stories, and that is why-- that's what I hope the youth the leaders of the future will achieve."
"I really feel that we should never ever forget that while we have a home, we have food in our tummy, we think maybe now and then...an hour a week on Sunday or your holiday....think how you can help children who's tummy is empty, who are starving, who don't have a roof over their head. And if all the children in the world could think one hour a week, you can help these children save their lives. And I will tell you one thing...as long as you are going to only think about what kind of an outfit, what kind of toys, what kind of gadget, what are you going to do with your own life for your own fun, you are not going to be a happy person. The minute you realize that you have the power to help somebody else is going to give a lot more purpose to your life than just worrying about your own comfort or pleasure. Try it."
"I want each person to know that life is a matter of choices. An individual can always choose what happens to them. Whether it's a crisis, or a calamity, people can choose to either ruin their lives, or to learn from it, and move forward. It's essential to understand the consequences of personal choices. It's possible to let tragedy or trauma become a reason to stop living. But it's also possible to live through extreme circumstances like I did and commit to a life that has meaning. A life that matters. If you strive — whatever profession you're in — to be the best in that profession, and if you work for a company, try to find out how you can, or what you can do, to help this company succeed, then you will be successful."
"Be loving, be caring, be grateful for everything that happens to you. That is the key to being happy.”
"The Holocaust started with words, words of antisemitism. And there is a lot of that going on now. We cannot let it happen again. Before, we had no idea what words could do, and now we know."
"Never forget and live your life fully."
"Remember the family. Never forget and love. Love and stay alive."
"Never compromise your faith in what is good and right."
"Do not ever give up hope even during the worst times. Treat other people with respect - the way you want other people to treat you. In other words the direct opposite of the way the Nazists treated the Jewish people."
“To forget the Jews assassinated in the Holocaust is to kill them forever. The oblivion is a second death. To remember gives a second life. Don’t forget, otherwise the bad past could be present in the future. Memory is self-defense.”
"I want to put this into your minds that you don’t have to be heroic, necessarily, to be life savers or to help others. You can do small things and you would never even know what the consequences of those small actions are."
"We must fight today the four evils that are still with us. These evils are indifference, injustice, intolerance, and ignorance. Please, become involved. Please, try to get involved and teach the world what we need to do. We must learn to live together in peace and harmony."
"As human beings, it is our duty not to forget and to do something about it. If not, we have no right to call ourselves civilized."
"You young people, you are going to be the leaders of our country, the senators, the representatives, maybe president. Make sure that this country of ours, the best country in the world, the United States of America, should be an example for the world. This place and everywhere in the world, every human being, regardless how they pray, regardless how they look, should be respected and honored."
"Speak up! Do not allow the forces of hate to spread through our country. World leadership failed us during the dark period of the Holocaust."
"It could have been stopped. And it takes a lot of courage to do that. I realize that. But again, that would have been a snowball. One good person stands up, says something, says, you know, “Hey, what is happening to these children? We need to find out.” And then people would follow. One courageous person, and the rest of the people would follow."
"Don’t do unto others what you don’t want done to yourself. And then, don’t put things off. Make that visit. Make that call. Write that letter. If you have a dream, go after it now. If you have two bottles of wine, drink the better one first."
"So, before I leave this world, I hope, I hope, that you all can take over, and don’t let it happen to anyone. Don’t discriminate against anybody. Don’t hate anybody. You saw what hatred can do."
"The persecution of any people, religion, color NEVER AGAIN."
"Never forget what the Holocaust was, so that history will never repeat itself."
"Be an up-stander. Accept all types of people. And remember to vote, if/when you are able to."
"Everybody, every human being has the obligation to contribute somehow to this world."
"For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing."
“Humanity seems doomed to do more evil than good. The greatest ideal on earth is human love.”
"The ascent of the privileged, not only in the Lager but in all human coexistence, is an anguishing but unfailing phenomenon: only in utopias is it absent. It is the duty of righteous men to make war on all undeserved privilege, but one must not forget that this is a war without end. Where power is exercised by few or only one against the many, privilege is born and proliferates, even against the will of the power itself." (comes from his essay "The Gray Zone")
"'Never Again;' is nonsense. It has been happening for 2,000 years. It is most likely to happen again. We must do whatever we can to postpone a recurrence of the catastrophes."
"Action is the only remedy to indifference: the most insidious danger of all." (comes from Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech on Dec. 10, 1986.)
"No hatred. Proud of who you are. Respect every one else. Only One God, We are all BROTHER's Keeper. Remember the Past. Make it a better world for the future."
"Dear student Samantha, I, Joshua Strul, born in May 1933 in Romania, I miraculously survived the terrible Holocaust and did not add another to the macabre and shocking balance of the one and a half million helpless children murdered for the sole reason of being born under the star of David and with a broken heart I remember my younger brother who perished in the harsh winter of 1943 of starvation and cold. Regrettably, in the current times bloody conflicts are present in several places in the world triggered by tyrant dictators, forgetting the horrors of the war that took place, not long ago in the name of the abject and infamous "Superior Race "ethnic cleansing, status, power and living space. Samantha, unfortunately, the evil virus of anti-Semitism never ceased to exist, it is present here and abroad, with manifestations of hatred towards Jews with apology for the insane Nazi regime, which must be fought with all vigor and repudiated by society as a whole, for no one is above the law. Therefore, the lever and the effective tool to combat all forms of discrimination, prejudice, extremism and authoritarian dictators and "EDUCATION", to know the truth and it is up to each of you to disclose and clarify, what happened in the past, always remember and never forget, because according to a warning written by Spanish philosopher George Santannaya and posted in pavilion 3 of Auschwitz says: "Whoever cannot remember the past" is doomed to repeat it. I must add, because it is no less important the importance of the serious climate crisis with the exaggerated emission of toxic gases, with serious consequences, polluting the planet with global warming, endangering our lives: reflecting well what is the legacy we will leave for future generations??? I should mention that our Holy Bible more than 3 thousand years ago warned: "Do not interfere with nature because it does not know how to defend itself, but takes revenge". I end with the message that we all join forces and each one does what he can and is within his power to contribute with good deeds, not to invade the space of the other, building bridges of peace, love, harmony, destroying walls and fences of separation, building a better, more balanced, more humane, just and more solidary world, where everyone can live peacefully and where all children have the right to grow, play and dream, love and laugh and that "never again" are realized and not only two words spoken and written."
"One sentence would never cover what I would like to tell you, but I have spent the time since high school and college trying to engage people on discrimination. If you come across it [discrimination] personally or in your business life, talk to the people who are doing it. Ask them what they mean, why have they come to the conclusion that they are making and always do it in a civil manner. It is amazing that after the second or third question they cannot give a cohesive answer and then it is up to you to be very honest and educated in your beliefs, to give them an answer. And always do it in a very civilized manner."
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