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04/19/2024 04:24:52 am

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Auschwitz Survivor Recounts Tales of the Holocaust for 70th Liberation Anniversary

Dachau Concentration Camp

(Photo : Reuters/Michael Dalder) The gate of the Dachau concentration camp in Germany bearing the “Arbeit macht frei” (“Work sets you free”) Nazi slogan is seen in this January 25, 2014 file photo.

On the anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation, survivor Martin Greenfield recounts the tale of his family's experience in concentration camps.

As the 70th anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation, he writes that people should reflect on the horrors of the Holocaust and how it affected everyone's sense of morality.

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Why should we think about the Holocaust? Greenfield says it is because there are many people out there who think that the Holocaust is a story of myth.

He points out that a poll taken last year of 53,000 people found that only 54 percent had heard about the terrors of the concentration camps. Any idea on Auschwitz was also lost on young folk.

That is the reason that he recounts his tale.

Greenfield tells of his story, when his family was standing in line to meet the Nazi physician Dr. Joseph Mengle, also known as the "Angel of Death."

That was in 1944. He stood in line with his mother, father, two sisters, and baby brother.

When they finally made it up to the front, everyone was directed to go to the left path, while he and his father went right. He would never see his mother and other family members again.

In the camps, his father gave him some words of guidance. He told his son that they should separate, as they would suffer double together.

"You are young and strong, and I know you will survive. If you survive by yourself, you must honor us by living, by not feeling sorry for us. This is what you must do," his father said.

That was the last time he saw his father.

The words that were said to him remained in his heart and gave him a reason to go forward.

When he escaped, he replaced the scars of the Holocaust with a life making fine suits for fine people like U.S. Presidents, Hollywood stars, and a slew of the world's most influential men.

He ends by pointing out that the 70th anniversary of liberation marks the moment when freedom conquered barbarism, "through sureness of virtue and strength of will."

These lessons must not be relegated to the world of myth. 

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