Holocaust Remembrance

Survivor Lowenberg draws huge crowd at SVSU
to hear his story and message about hate.

Mimi Marcus

T

jewish@edu writer

he audience waited patiently for Martin

took power and endured five different concen-

Lowenberg to arrive at Saginaw Valley

tration camps between the ages of 13 and 17.

State University on April 22.When he

made his entrance, a room of more than 750 stu-
dents, faculty and community members gave him
a standing ovation.
Hillel at SVSU planned to bring a Holocaust
survivor to campus as our end-of-the-year program
during Holocaust Remembrance month. We want-
ed to bring our Jewish roots to campus and create
an experience that many in this area of Michigan
may potentially never have.
This event took months of planning to make
it successful. Hillel created proposals, allocation
meetings and promotional tactics to create a large
pool of interest in the Saginaw-Bay region.
After teaming up with the Holocaust Memorial
Center in Farmington Hills, we secured Martin
Lowenberg, 87, as a keynote speaker. Lowenberg
is a resident of Southfield and is an extraordinary
hero who travels all around Michigan to share his
story. He was born five years before Adolf Hitler

The crowd waits to hear from Holocaust survivor Martin
Lowenberg.

Lowenberg showed a Powerpoint presentation of

don't understand the word 'hate,— he said. "I try

family pictures and told a story that will stay with
the audience forever.
Much of his lecture shared his personal experi-
ence and educated us on the history that led to
the Holocaust, relating it to different ages and
demographics.
"Six million Jews were killed, another five mil-
lion non-Jewish people were killed," he said. "So
many of them were children who could've taught,
could've lived ... but their lives were lost. Two of
them were brothers of mine who were twins."
While sharing his story, not a pin drop could be
heard. The audience was respectful and interested
in getting as much as they could out of their expe-
rience.
One of the most impactful moments of the
night was when Lowenberg focused on the word
"hate."
"When I speak to young people in schools, they

to replace the word with a lot of other things:
harm, humility, harassment."
His words led to the focus of my thoughts
about the event. This month may be about history,
but sadly we are not so far from this again. We
still turn a blind eye to suffering and cruelty in the
world. We allow differences to become breeding
grounds for hatred rather than beautiful opportu-
nities to learn. But somehow it feels like the tide is
turning. More young people are using their voices
to demand change, fairness and equality.
We want to see an end to bigotry, fear and
intolerance. We want peace. We see unity. We see
one world. We see another's face and want to
know the person behind it. My deepest hope is
that this feeling can be our future; that the stains
in our history can ensure that we never go back
there. That we never forget. Your voices matter. So,
use them well. @

Senior Jaimmie Koss of
Southfield, Holocaust survivor
Martin Lowenberg and senior
Mimi Marcus of Southfield

Mimi Marcus of Southfield is a senior and

president of Hillel at Saginaw Valley State

University.

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May 21 • 2015

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