Holocaust Survivor Makes Impression in Online Course

In March 2006, 50 teachers from around the U.S. and the world who were taking Facing History and Ourselves' 8-week online course, Holocaust and Human Behavior, participated in a moving conference call with poet and Holocaust survivor Sonia Schreiber Weitz. Before the conversation, the teachers read Weitz's story of loss and survival during the Holocaust, documented in her memoir, I Promised I Would Tell. Born in Krakow, Poland, Weitz was just eleven years old when the Holocaust began. Of the 84 members of her family, only Sonia and her sister Blanca survived.

"The conference call was the kind of unique encounter that sticks in your mind," reflected course participant, Lolly Capasso, who teaches 8th grade English/ Language Arts at Ayer Middle School in Ayer, Massachusetts.

"Sonia's poetry and writing maintains the insight of a teen, but her awareness is so much deeper. She knew she was a child condemned to die. She sensed the last time she was going to see her father alive. It was chilling to fathom that an 11, 12, 13 year-old should have to think that way," she said.

On the call, Weitz answered questions from participants and read her poem "Victory." The poem is about being imprisoned at the Plaszow labor camp and risking punishment to have her first and only dance with her father, shortly before he was transported to a death camp.

"Hearing Sonia read that poem is something I'll never forget," said Capasso. The conference call was recorded and the next day Capasso played the recording of Sonia reading "Victory" for her students who are currently reading The Diary of Anne Frank.

Capasso said her students related to Sonia's experience as a teenager, and found a powerful message about resilience, survival, and the urgency to act.

"Students had the option to respond in writing to the poetry on a WOW (With Out Words) board in my classroom." 82 of the 85 students in Capasso's classes responded.

One student, Victoria G., wrote, "to be able to grasp a moment like that is heart-breaking, but so beautiful when time gives you only a minute to spare."

And Melissa D., reflected, "It is as if her father knew he wasn't' going to see his daughter again. This shows how indescribable love is."

Victory

I danced with you that one time only.
How sad you were, how tired, lonely...
You knew that they would "take" you soon...
So when your bunk-mate played a tune
You whispered: "little one, let us dance,
We may not have another chance."

To grasp this moment...sense the mood;
Your arms around me felt so good...
The ugly barracks disappeared
There was no hunger...and no fear.
Oh what a sight, just you and I,
My lovely father (once big and strong)
And me, a child...condemned to die.

I thought: how long
Before the song must end.

There are no tools
To measure love
And only fools

Would fail
To scale
Your victory.

*Soon after this, Sonia's father was taken away on a transport. She never saw her father again. Capasso believes the most important lesson she gained from the conference call with Sonia Weitz was witnessing-- from Sonia's very personal perspective-- what happens when people stand by and do nothing on behalf of their fellow human beings.

 

"After hearing the call last evening, I came to work renewed. My classroom door now displays the words, ‘I am not a bystander,'" she said.

"Sonia's voice is an important one for children to hear," said Capasso. "She has made the difference in so many lives. She's telling us: ‘I've lived through this. Now take what I say and do something.'"