Marching in Auschwitz – Birkenau is vital to show the world that we are still here

I was born in Paris in 1938. My parents were born in Poland and moved to France with the rise of Hitler. When the situation for the Jews worsened in Paris, my father decided that he must take steps to protect me. He turned to a farmer who lived in the countryside near the lumber camp and asked him to hide his little girl. They agreed. My father was caught and deported and sent to his death on convoy #64 to Auschwitz. I am alive today thanks to Monsieur and Madame Martin and the girls, who were very good to me. I was very lucky.

After the war, I went to a camp run by leaders who were working to create the State of Israel, and the sparks of my passion for being Jewish were planted. I was reunited with my mother after the war and came to the USA. Today, I am 84 years old and remember so much of it like it was yesterday. Even though there is a great deal that I would like to forget, I talk about it at every opportunity because the younger generations need to know. I have attended the March of the Living for six years, and this year will be my seventh trip.

I would like to share a very special moment from the March. The first time I went to Majdanek, I saw all the shoes. I noticed one small red shoe in particular. I wondered about the identity of the child to whom the shoe belonged. I wondered what she could have achieved in this world if she had not been murdered. I could not stop thinking about all the people who had been murdered there.

I am worried about the future of Holocaust education. I don’t think the world has learned anything from the Shoah (Holocaust). I am worried about the future, and this is why I am dedicated to keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive – to remember and remind everyone of what happened. We have to keep talking and keep marching for people of different faiths. I promise to continue to speak until I close my eyes forever.