Illustration of The Unbreakable Spirit of Survivors: A Grandmother's Message

The Unbreakable Spirit of Survivors: A Grandmother’s Message

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

Psychologist, Author, Broadcaster

Every grandparent feels a unique joy when seeing their grandchildren, but for me, looking at my grandchildren Ari and Leora fills my heart with an additional reason to rejoice. Originally from Germany, I lost my family to the Nazi terror, knowing that Hitler strove to ensure children like mine would never be born. Yet here they are, symbols of small victories in the ongoing battle against evil, particularly anti-Semitism. Recently, while watching Schindler’s List, one point in Steven Spielberg’s postscript struck me: The 1,200 Jews saved by Oscar Schindler now have over 6,000 descendants. Imagine if millions had been saved.

Each child born into a Jewish family represents a sacred link in the long lineage of Jewish life tracing back to Abraham and Sarah. The soul aches for the generations lost due to the Nazi Holocaust.

The world can learn a powerful lesson from the Jewish experience. We have endured the extreme form of human hatred — the attempt to annihilate an entire people. Yet, we never allowed that hatred to define us. As Jews, we never forgot our calling to repair the world by transforming hatred into love and by advocating for justice and peace.

When I look at Ari and Leora, I know the Nazis failed in achieving their ultimate goal. Though they destroyed my family, including my dear parents and grandparents, they couldn’t extinguish my will to live and to pass on my love for Judaism, Israel, and the Jewish people to my children and grandchildren. The phrase “Am Yisrael chai” — “The Jewish people lives” — carries profound significance for me.

For a Jewish community whose numbers were so decimated, let future generations embrace the Biblical commandment — one I particularly endorse — to “be fruitful and multiply.”

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