Why I’ll Never Stop Sharing My Holocaust Story

According to the Kabbalah, which is a kind of Jewish mysticism, when God created the world, it was totally whole and perfect. But then it got broken and all the pieces rained down and mixed together. According to this story, today, it is our job, or even responsibility, to repair the world, to make it whole again. This is something we Jews call “tikkun olam.” Repairing the world.

Tikkun olam can mean something like doing acts of chesed—kindness— or it can mean getting involved in social justice activities. It’s basically about making the world better by fixing what needs to be fixed in whatever way that we can.

Telling my story of surviving the Holocaust doesn’t change the past or fix the world, but I do feel that it might just help make this world better because I can share a part of history as I experienced it with my own eyes and ears instead of something you read in a book. I can also be an example for other people who might just share their stories of suffering, too, so that they can heal and feel better and maybe even prevent others from suffering in the same way.

When I was a kid in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, I really had no idea why I was there. I just did my best to survive. That was all I could do. Everything was totally confusing. I didn’t understand what being Jewish meant or why the Nazis hated us so much. I was simply too young.

I’m much more aware today of my Jewish heritage and the wisdom, teachings, writings, and history that brought us to where we are now than I was at any other point in my life. I think that’s part of growing older—or at least it is for me. You realize and appreciate all the things that made you who you are.

But based on the antisemitism I see today, and the Holocaust denial I have seen on social media, I think it is clear we have to do better than we have in the past. When I speak, I feel responsible to do a good job and be very accurate because I am not only telling my story and that of my family but also, in some ways, speaking for 6 million Jews and millions of others who cannot bear witness for themselves. I think of what Gideon Hausner said at the beginning of Eichmann’s trial: “I will be their spokesman.”

Read More: How to Get Holocaust Education Right

People who share their stories of pain and suffering of are brave. People who feel they cannot share their stories yet should be respected, too, because everybody is different. I didn’t share my story for decades, so I understand. The truth is that we, Holocaust survivors, the last generation old enough to remember what happened, are coming to the ends of our lives. That’s natural. But I hope that makes people think about how our memories can be preserved and used to teach coming generations.

The whole topic of Holocaust survivors and Holocaust education has evolved over the years—from eyewitnesses who knew what really happened to memorials and museums to today, Holocaust education existing in many different ways on social media. How we teach history is always changing.

That said, people have to remember that it wasn’t like the war finished, then five years later, people started building museums and Holocaust memorial centers. No. It took society a decade or two just to begin to face this horrifying past or even talk about it because dealing with it is so bloody difficult. It is only in the past few decades that many nations are beginning to look at their past and think of it and present it in new ways.

I recently read that large numbers of young people in America and in Europe were not able to name a single concentration camp. That is very upsetting, of course. However, I also learned that the same is true for many other historical events. For example, many American kids do not know basic facts about the U.S. Civil War and slavery in America. We really need to take a hard look at what has gone wrong here, because we will all pay the consequences. In some ways, we are already paying the consequences of this historical amnesia.

The fact is, it isn’t just the Holocaust but also many other atrocities, hatreds, and injustices that need to be remembered and taught about in better ways. We can be upset that young people don’t know many facts, or we can be determined to teach them in better ways. I choose to be determined. I happen to love young people, and I believe in them and in the future. It is the older generation who needs to do better.

Telling my story is not easy, but it also affects me in positive ways. It makes me feel empowered because what was taken from us Jews and so many others was our very humanity. And there was nothing we could do about it. Yes, there were a number of instances of resistance and rebellion, but they weren’t enough. We were powerless. So in a way, I feel as if I am restoring our humanity by telling our stories.

Telling my story also helps me feel stronger and better as a person because it is a way of facing my past and dealing with the pain and transforming it to something good for people today. From my story, people can learn something about history, and I hope they can also learn something about themselves.

When my daughter Hadasa was studying to be an architect, she made beautiful hanging mobiles, some of which I have to this day. Each one is so delicate and so perfectly balanced. One day, a strong wind blew one of her beautiful mobiles down. I was so sad, I loved it so. Carefully, I picked up the pieces and brought them to Hadasa, hoping she could fix it.

A few months went by and then one day, she gave it back to me, all repaired. It was perfectly balanced, elegant, and in harmony, with every beautiful piece there, even if I could still see a chip or two.

I tell you this not only because I love my daughter and her creations, but also because it shows that broken things can be repaired. We are all survivors, in one way or another. We all live through heartache, illness, and losing loved ones. We all live through bad days and uncertain times and upheaval in our lives. Some of us have even lived through terrible physical and emotional violence and abuse.

It takes a great deal of time, courage, and support to put the pieces of our heart, soul, and body back together. There might be a chip or two, where things hurt us and even changed us, but that only makes us more of what we are— complicated, beautiful, flawed human beings.

Excerpted from Let’s Make Things Better by Gidon Lev with Julie Gray. Copyright © 2024 by Gidon Lev with Julie Gray. Reprinted with permission of Hachette Go, an imprint of Hachette Book Group. All rights reserved.