BY EMILY LUNDBERG
Holocaust survivor, Sam Silberberg speaks to group at Eleanor Roosevelt High School
On Mon., April 27, Holocaust survivor, Sam Silberberg, visited Eleanor Roosevelt High School to share his story with students from classes such as AP European History. The day he came was particularly special, because it was Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Standing on the stage of the ERHS theater wearing jeans and a purple button down shirt, Silberberg spoke to a full house of students and teachers all eager to hear his powerful testimony of the most inhuman events in world history. He began rather unexpectedly, speaking first about the conflict in the Ukraine, before asking the students to picture themselves in his shoes.
As he went on to explain more of his story, the students in the audience witnessed their history books come to life as he steadily explained what it was like to be a child during the Holocaust. Students were able to picture him at ten years old as he described his life as having “very serious confusion about what was going on.” They could picture him at 15, escaping the Germans to hide in a convent for the remainder of the war, and every age in between. Occasionally when he spoke he gestured for emphasis, and at one point even passed around a belt from the German army that he saved as a memento over the years.
He concluded by sharing stories of some of his adventures after the Holocaust, which included a pilgrimage to Israel and moving to America – which he gratefully described as “a country of plenty.” Silberberg also answered questions from students. When asked what motivated him to stay alive he said, “Life is a game…I had a choice and I chose life because I knew that I could have it and that’s why I’m here.”
After hearing him talk, an AP European history student remarked, “We’ve been learning about the Holocaust in both Euro and Language Arts for weeks, but not until today did I get a full grasp of how it affected those who survived.”
