Memoir: The Holocaust Recalled. My experiences are not unique, not even original. They are similar to those of hundreds of thousands of other men, women, and children who came face to face with unprecedented evil, the systematic annihilation of a people, the Holocaust.
No, my story is not original, but because it is mine, the task in front of me is daunting. Moreover, revealing myself never came easily to me.
I always found more "interesting" things to talk about. I have been very protective of my past. I feared that the scars were too tender to the touch of others as well as to my own memories of how they came to be.
I kept these memories like a genie in a bottle since I did not know what to expect of them once I let them loose. Lately, they appear less threatening, more friend than foe, coaxing me to action, and are becoming increasingly more impatient with my procrastination. Perhaps it is the approaching Fiftieth Anniversary of my liberation from Bergen-Belsen, a symbolic milestone, or the gentle urging of family and friends to tell my story, or both, that finally compel me to undertake this very difficult task.
To bear witness to human suffering is tough; how much tougher it is when it's your own. Some time ago, as I was walking along the beach on Siesta Key, I reminded myself how lucky I was to have the freedom to do the things I was doing and to be at peace with my surroundings.
