Holocaust Survivors

Essay by theforward1 October 2006

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Adolf Hitler attempted to massacre an entire group of people in the "Final Solution"

during the Holocaust. Not only did he strive for genocide, but also his goal was to

abolish the belief and faith that had been practiced and been persecuted in the last

3,000 years. Many Jews that were sent to ghettos and concentration camps lost faith in

God and stopped believing in Him. Others, though, kept the fire of tradition burning

throughout the long night. The survivors of the Holocaust that tried to preserve the

Jewish faith through the hours of darkness have taught people to keep their faith strong

and have everlasting hope.

David Weiss Halivini was a goal oriented, well learned teenager in Romania during the

1930's and 1940's. He hoped to one day become the rabbi of a small village in the

Carpathian Mountains. His dreams were abruptly halted when Germany invaded

Romania in 1942.

When David was forced into a ghetto, he continued his Jewish

learning, which included the study of the Torah and Talmud. David ignored the events of

the world around him. Soon after the invasion, David and his entire family were sent to

the Auschwitz concentration camp and his faith was severely put to a test.

When David and his family arrived at Auschwitz, David was separated from his family

and was sent to the Gross-Rosen labor camp to work on a team that cut stones for

building roads. The work was strenuous but he was able to handle it because he had

hope in God. That hope was beginning to fade until David spotted a guard eating a

sandwich wrapped in a bletl, a page from a Jewish religious text. David ran to the guard

and asked for the text and immediately gained his once questioned hope back. That...