I FOCUS
From Eye To Eye
)
A class in Grand Blanc responds to stories of the
°Holocaust.
L
a
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Assistant Editor
he truth, author Elie
Wiese' said of Hobo-
caust survivors'
testimonies, will never be
written. "Like the Talmud,
it will be transmitted from
mouth to ear, from eye to
eye."
Agi Rubin transmits from
mouth to ear, from eye to
eye.
° A native of Czechoslovakia,
Mrs. Rubin spent the war
' years imprisoned in Ausch-
witz and Ravensbruck. In
1948, she came to the United
-_ States and settled in South-
field.
For years, she said little
about, the Holocaust. Then
,-- her friend, the late John
Mames, encouraged her to
speak of her experiences. He
led her to University of
Michigan-Dearborn pro-
fessor Sidney Bolkosky, who
was preparing an oral histo-
c ry program about World
War II that would eventual-
' a ly be used in schools nation-
wide. Mrs. Rubin agreed to
participate.
"Being so silent for so
many years, it felt good,"
she said.
Today, Mrs. Rubin speaks
at public schools throughout
Michigan. She tells students
about her life during the
war. She always begins, "I
don't want to tell you horror
stories . . ."
The students want to hear
) C personal tales, Mrs. Rubin
said. "They want to know,
`How did you endure the
hunger and the pain, the loss
of your loved ones?' "
Several months ago, Mrs.
" Rubin spoke to two 10th-
, grade English classes in
Grand Blanc. Afterward, the
students wrote to thank her
and to tell what they had
learned. The following are
excerpts from those letters:
_
0
2
Please don't ever change
your way of explaning this
thing we call the Holocaust.
To me, I call it Hell!
I would like to thank
you from the bottom of my
heart for showing up to
explane your life to us. It
was just the way you ex-
planed it that enabled me
to visualize the Holocuast
better than before. Your
visit made a difference for
me and my class. In the
future if anything starts to
look or sound as bad as
the Holocaust and some-
one tells me or worns me,
I know that anything is
possible in our world, to-
day.
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When I use to read about
the Holocaust I did not pay
that much attention until I
talked to you and then I
found out how crul humans
can be. I am black and my
grandmother tell me how
she had it bad when she was
growing up but that is
nothing compared to what
happened to you. but I know
one thing I will try to keep
prejudice out of my life.
I learnd alot about the
nightmare. I do picture little
kids playing and people
gathering together and I do
see human being when I see
all the dead bone . . . My dad
had found an old artacal that
he saved and we sat down
and talked about the Holo-
caust. My dad help me
understand about the night-
mare. I would appreciat it if
you would go around and
talk to people and when you
talk to them look them in
there eyes and they will feel
what you felt.
I know you made a
differens in the way my
class and I look at the
Holcaust. I have read
about many things. They
just are things, I pay no
attention to them or just
don't care but you made it
real.
I wish I could have stayed
longer to talk to you. I would
like to learn more about the
Holocaust. I think whoever
can talk about that is very
4,1now
, sc,
brave. Because that's a
tough thing to talk about.
This is the first time I heard
about the Holocaust.
When you tell us the things
that happened, it really look-
ed like you were seeing this
happen. I remember looking
at your eyes and face, for a
few seconds you were telling
us what happens, but a se-
cond later your eyes were
very distant. It was right in
front of you and not just a
mean quick glance of the past
. . .
I felt that I couldn't ask you
any questions because I am
65 percent German. I felt bad
of my ancestory and scarred
that you might hold some-
i-rvi-11.
ct
rnor
thing against all Germans.
Even though you said you
don't hold a grudge against a
person if his grandfather did
something I know is bad.
her and gained hope for
yourself. When I see some-
one who has lost hope, I'll
think of you and I'll try to
follow your example.
I thought it was im-
porent to listen to what
you had to say, because
people don't belive the
truth about our nations
History or Reality.
I learned that just because
you have' a different religion
you can die and thats not
right. You shouldn't judge a
person by there religion or
color, you should see them as
a person and as themself.
I understand the anger
and the feeling that know
one is trying to help you. It
amazes me that you are able
to get over that anger. You
are a real example for us,
when it comes to hope.
Knowing that your friend
had lost hope and you helped
Mrs. Rubin I don't know
if you rember or not but I
was one of the first boys
to walk out on you. And
I'm sorry but I have a very
bad nerve trouble and I
have hyperventilation to
with this sickness I have.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
39