Survivor shares Holocaust experience

Evin Shoap / senior photographer Alex Lebenstein, a Holocaust survivor, speaks about Kristallnacht during his address as part of Holocaust Awareness Week Monday night.

A speech given by a Holocaust survivor was the first event of a week devoted to Holocaust remembrance, sponsored by Hillel.

Alex Lebenstein recalled the two most horrific days of his life on Monday evening in PC Ballroom. On Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, Nazis burned 101 synagogues and countless Jewish homes and businesses, he said. "Being a survivor of Kristallnacht itself is a miracle."

Lebenstein said he chose these two days to speak about because they are the most vivid for him. "Those two days are my nightmare," he said. Senior Hillel member Elissa Berger said Hillel has expanded its pool of speakers to encompass many examples of genocide in the 20th century.

"Mr. Lebenstein’s speech was aligned with our original goal of educating the student body of events which occurred during the Holocaust," she said.

Born Nov. 3, 1927, Lebenstein was one of three children. His father and grandfather ran a successful Kosher butcher in their hometown of Haltern, Germany. His father, also born in Germany, was a war veteran. When Hitler came to power and made public his plans for a "final solution," none of Lebenstein’s friends believed they would ever come after such a respected family Lebenstein said.

On Nov. 10, 1938, the Nazis came for his family, he said. Within minutes, their home and lives were invaded and destroyed. Furniture was thrown out of the house and valuables were stolen, Lebenstein explained. "The Nazis were screaming anti-Semitic slogans that are too shameful to repeat," Lebenstein said.

"My father was screaming, ‘You can’t do this to me! I am German, I fought in the war,’" Lebenstein said. "One of the men spat in my father’s face and threw his medals to the ground and stomped on them and destroyed them. Then they started to beat him. My mother was screaming, "They’re killing us, they’re killing us,’" he said.

He said his family was then forced into hiding. After being advised by friends, they made a new home out of blankets in a nearby Jewish cemetery. Friends decided that this would be the safest place for them, that they could not stay near their home, Lebenstein said. As the family waited, they sat is silence. "We had no more tears, no saliva," he said.

"It wasn’t long before they were discovered, and the Nazis did not arrive unnoticed, Lebenstein said. "After plowing through the iron gate, they proceeded to destroy every single stone in the cemetery. They took it out on the dead just as well."

He said his mother suspected one of their friends had been forced to tell where they were hiding.

Lebenstein said he was the only Jewish member of his hometown to survive the Holocaust, and the only member of his family to go back to Haltern. In 1988, a friend told Lebenstein the city of Haltern was looking for him. They wanted to make amends.

"I wanted nothing to do with them," he said. "I stopped speaking German. I stopped thinking German."

Finally, in 1995, Lebenstein agreed to go back to Haltern. He recalls children asking how he survived and others asking for his forgiveness.

"That is impossible," Lebenstein said. "There is no forgiving."

He continues speaking today to teach tolerance and search for the truth, he said.

Jacob Forstater, director of Media & Public relations for Hillel, said, "As someone who has heard Holocaust survivors speak before, I think I was affected differently than many other people who heard Mr. Lebenstein speak. While the events he spoke about were similar to many I have heard before, he offered a unique and amazing perspective, one which I had never heard before.

"By focusing primarily on his experiences during Kristallnacht — not mentioning, but rather inferring, to many of the atrocities and inhumane things he experienced throughout the Holocaust, he touched me and the audience, allowing us to reflect and consider, rather than being overwhelmed by the details of the torturous and inhumane things he experienced."

After the lecture, a large number of students stayed behind to speak and shake hands with Mr. Lebenstein, Forstater said.

"Mr. Lebenstein’s story is one that must be told," he said. "Stories like his, whether it is dealing with the Holocaust or other atrocities must be told — it is imperative that the world learn that these things have happened, so that we can prevent them from happening again. This is Hillel’s goal in putting on Holocaust Remembrance Week."