28 quotes found
“Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but, above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.”
“If we bear all this suffering and if there are still Jews left, when it is over, then Jews, instead of being doomed, will be held up as an example.”
“Fiction cannot recite the numbing numbers, but it can be that witness, that memory. A storyteller can attempt to tell the human tale, can make a galaxy out of the chaos, can point to the fact that ...”
“Maybe people had no choice but I wonder sometimes what would have happened if everyone without a choice would have made a choice anyway. If we all chose not to participate. Not to be bullied. Not t...”
“I could have been 23 next July I gambled on what mattered most, the dice were cast. I lost.”
“Learning the Holocaust is not meant to scare you but to deepen your understanding about the world.”
“learning the Holocaust meant to scare you but to deepen your understanding of the world.”
“The past is a presence between us. In all my mother does and says, the past continually discloses itself in the smallest ways. She sees it directly; I see its shadow. Still, it pulses in my fingert...”
“Memory for most is a kind of afterlife; for my mother, it is another form of life.”
“Nothing about these times makes any sense. Nothing. Putting it to words only makes it sound too simple.”
“If you had to pack your whole life into a suitcase-not just the practical things, like clothing, but the memories of the people you had lost and the girl you had once been-what would you take?”
“She believes that everyone we meet influences us, that we need to hear their stories to learn more about ourselves.”
“She never indulged in self-pity, nor did she point the finger of blame for her misfortunes. Her heart was clear of bitterness. I believe that if a persons strength of character is measured at the e...”
“What else could I do? You couldn't just say no. I had to think about...my...position.”
“On the average, only those prisoners could keep alive who, after years of trekking from camp to camp, had lost all scruples in their fight for existence; they were prepared to use every means, hone...”
“And so the picture that I showed her that Sunday, a picture I'd seen countless times since I was a boy, brought home to me for the first time the strangeness of my relationship to the people I was ...”
“The world? The world is not interested in us. Today, everything is possible, even the crematoria...”
“The past is gone. My life is a miracle! With gratitude to God, I am still here to remember and to tell what happened to me during the Holocaust of WWII.”
“They departed in the form of white smoke, rose easily upward, waved their hands in parting, and viewed with pity all those who remained behind. Then they danced gaily in celebration of their new fr...”
“Its true that the hatred is still there. But it doesnt change anything. Our obligations are the sameto live and sanctify all life with our own. To participate in the world the best we know how, lea...”
