An Unforgettable Visitor in the Uppers (7th/8th)

This Monday, a local Holocaust survivor named Henny Lewin came in to share her story with the seventh and eighth graders as part of our Social Studies class. Henny is a ‘child survivor’, or someone who was very young when the Holocaust happened. She told us many stories about her life, of how she got smuggled out of the Kovno Ghetto and what happened to her after the war was over. We will never forget this experience. 

In discussion and written reflections, Uppers processed this experience throughout the week. Here are some of their thoughts:

There were so many moments in which it seemed like Henny, her parents, and her cousin were going to be killed, but each time something happened to prevent that. All of these moments made me wonder about all of the millions of other people who weren’t so lucky, and what their stories would have been, how nobody will ever know about the experiences that they individually had. That quote,“Whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world” is rather awful to think about because so many lives weren’t saved, and so many worlds were lost. -River

Henny is a marvel. Meeting her was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I know I will never forget. Her story, so beautifully told, was full of twists and turns, lucky coincidences, heartbreak, cruelty, kindness, ingenuity and celebration. -Josie

After she left, I was left thinking about a lot of things. What other remains had the city destroyed after the war? Why did a memorial museum refuse to change a display saying that Henny’s parents were dead?- Bea

I learned that someone can have a really bad thing happen to them and they can recover. I couldn't imagine living with that kind of trauma. Or talking about it at all. -Barnaby

I want to remember how brave Henny was considering she was only three and that's a lot for a three year-old to experience. -Molli

I thought it was so interesting. The thought that someone could survive all that is really a lot to take in. My heart felt sad in a lot of parts, but there was a lot of happiness too, like when she found her parents.- Ben

The most emotional part of Henny’s presentation was when Henny showed a picture of her and the girl from the family that had taken Henny. Henny had to pretend to be her sister. They were both wearing goofy hats and sitting next to each other. Henny said, “Look at these two girls, one Christian and one Jewish, they are both the same neither one dangerous.”  That quote was one of the most tragic I have ever heard and one of the most true.- Emma

I learned that humans can be brave, to the point where it scares me a little bit. Some people will risk their lives to such an extreme point just to get themselves or their children to safety, like smuggling a three year old in a suitcase. Humans fight to stay alive, they go any lengths to survive, and some of the stories I heard proved that. -Charlittle