Spring Break
Survivor relates Auschwitz to Darfur
MICHAEL PROCHASKA
Issue date: 4/21/09 Section: Variety
To most, it's a photograph of the deceased embedded in a history book, a diary of a compassionate young girl or a black and white film about a German businessman transforming a factory into a refuge.
But no matter how much exposure a person may receive to a history so horrific and deplorable, it will be difficult to imagine the entire scope of atrocities Jewish families faced in Europe during World War II.
For Murray Lynn, the Holocaust was never encapsulated by a textbook; it was ingrained in his memory.
Since retirement, Lynn, a survivor of Auschwitz, has devoted himself to teaching about the Holocaust.
Where: Athens-Clarke County Public Library
Cost: Free
"The key to fighting discrimination is education," he said. "[The Holocaust] is a cautionary tale about intolerance. It's about the system in Europe that for centuries did not tolerate different faiths."
Today, National Holocaust Remembrance Day, Lynn will tell his story in hopes of fighting discrimination still present in the world. When Lynn first arrived in New York as a student in the late 1940s, he encountered a new world of freedom, yet he still faced bigotry.
"When I came to the States, there was very little known in the '40s and early '50s about the Holocaust," he said. "People did not realize at the time the depth of the Holocaust and how much we suffered and how much we lost."
Because of an extensive lack of knowledge of the Holocaust, Lynn and other immigrants who sought a better life in America were not treated as survivors of genocide, but rather became victims of more prejudice.
"We were treated disrespectfully. Because we were immigrants, people were afraid we might take something away from the local people."
In the United States, ignorance often prevented Americans from speaking out against Hitler's atrocities during the war. In Germany, however, it was silence in the face of knowledge that gave Nazism its power.
But no matter how much exposure a person may receive to a history so horrific and deplorable, it will be difficult to imagine the entire scope of atrocities Jewish families faced in Europe during World War II.
For Murray Lynn, the Holocaust was never encapsulated by a textbook; it was ingrained in his memory.
Since retirement, Lynn, a survivor of Auschwitz, has devoted himself to teaching about the Holocaust.
NATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY
When: 7 tonightWhere: Athens-Clarke County Public Library
Cost: Free
"The key to fighting discrimination is education," he said. "[The Holocaust] is a cautionary tale about intolerance. It's about the system in Europe that for centuries did not tolerate different faiths."
Today, National Holocaust Remembrance Day, Lynn will tell his story in hopes of fighting discrimination still present in the world. When Lynn first arrived in New York as a student in the late 1940s, he encountered a new world of freedom, yet he still faced bigotry.
"When I came to the States, there was very little known in the '40s and early '50s about the Holocaust," he said. "People did not realize at the time the depth of the Holocaust and how much we suffered and how much we lost."
Because of an extensive lack of knowledge of the Holocaust, Lynn and other immigrants who sought a better life in America were not treated as survivors of genocide, but rather became victims of more prejudice.
"We were treated disrespectfully. Because we were immigrants, people were afraid we might take something away from the local people."
In the United States, ignorance often prevented Americans from speaking out against Hitler's atrocities during the war. In Germany, however, it was silence in the face of knowledge that gave Nazism its power.
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