'My fervent wish is that this history is never repeated again' - Holocaust survivor

Tuesday, 5 July 2016

A woman who survived the Holocaust is visiting New Zealand schools to remind teens of the human cost of intolerance.

Guta Goldstein, a survivor of the Lodz Ghetto in Poland and Auschwitz, told her story to students at Nga Tawa Diocesan School and Palmerston North Girls' High during special assemblies on Tuesday.

Goldstein said her story was one of many millions, and because she was lucky to survive she felt it was her duty to speak.

'It's important this is remembered after all us survivors are dead. There's a saying 'to forget them is to kill them all over again'.'

Her visit to Manawatu is part of the sixth year of the Project Hope tour, organised by the Jewish Federation of New Zealand. 

Jewish Federation spokesman Esther Hauer said the tour was not just about remembrance, but a reminder of the importance of tolerance.

Goldstein was born in Lodz, Poland in 1930. Before World War II, she lived with her father, younger sister, and stepmother.

She was 9 years old when her family was sent to the Lodz Ghetto. By the time she was 14, she was the only one left of her family, she said.

Her father died in the ghetto of pneumonia caused by starvation. Her sister died at the Marysin orphanage, that Goldstein herself was rescued from by her aunt just before the Germans took the children away for 'elimination'. 

Goldstein said she survived with her aunt and cousins until they were sent to Auschwitz, where they died.

When the war ended, Goldstein was 15. She spent four ½ years as a refugee in Italy without anywhere, or anyone, to go to. 

Goldstein said she didn't begin to feel normal again until she was accepted into Australia in 1949.

'It had been almost exactly 10 years before I became an ordinary person and an ordinary citizen again.'

She rebuilt her life in Melbourne, and there she met her husband, Ludwick, who was also the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust.

Together they had two daughters, and seven grandchildren.

Hearing Goldstein's story was difficult, Nga Tawa student Emily De Smidt said. 

'I got quite emotional when she was talking about how the children were taken away. It just struck me [and] I teared up.'

Year 12 Nga Tawa student Ana Barcham said Goldstein's story affected her so much she went to the staff room afterwards to thank her personally.

'[Her speech] was very sombre and beautiful.

'It reminded us of the history and the fact they were people like us. You can read the books, but it's not the same.'

Goldstein said it was always fantastic to meet the students after her speeches.

'I find the children always ask very intelligent and perceptive questions. And I always get hugs and things, especially from the girls.'

She said it was nice she really moved them, it was hard to explain Auschwitz, but she hoped they understood what she meant to say.

As she summed it up in the final line of her speech; 'my fervent wish is that this history is never repeated again. And it's up to your generation to ensure that it is not'.