THE ULTIMATE TEST
During the
course of our lifetime we will meet people who change our lives in a positive
way. Maybe it’s a high school teacher, one or both of your parents, a lifetime
friend or possibly an encounter with an individual that has suffered an
experience no human being should have to go through.
Recently I
met a man who has survived five death camps. His story is beyond remarkable and
it is encapsulated in the final words of his book. “I am determined not to be
bitter but better. The Germans enslaved me for three years, but I am determined
not to be enslaved to anger for the rest of my life”
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| Alter Weiner the survivor extraordinaire. |
Alter Weiner
was liberated by the Russian Army at the age of eighteen from a work camp
during World War II. He shared his story
with high school students at Reynolds High School at their “Living History
Day”. He has spoken to thousands of young people in high schools and colleges
throughout Oregon and Washington. His life story has changed the lives of
students who were on the verge of suicide or were disenfranchised from their
parents. One parent at Sandy High School called the school office and wanted to
know what happened at school today. Her
daughter came home and put her arms around her and told her how much she loved
her. That daughter had listened to the story of Alter and recognized how much
she had in life. She also realized how much she had taken for granted. Alter
lost it all: parents, siblings, his home, possessions and, most importantly,
his freedom. But he still survived and more than survived, he is letting a
generation that has accumulated more material wealth than any other in the
history of the world know that they should take nothing for granted.
What follows
is a interview with Alter Weiner, a man whose purpose and hope inspires those
who need it most: our young people.
Q. Alter, give us a background of
where you came from.
A. I grew up
in a small town in Poland called Chrzanow. My father was a wholesale grocer. We
lived in an apartment above the store where my father worked. During that time
we would be considered to be an upper middle-income family. My father was very
religious and would go in the morning and evening to the synagogue for worship.
His faith and devotion to God became my anchor in the storm that was to be
unleashed when I was 15 years old, and has carried me through to this day.
Q. What took place when you had
reached the age of 15 and for the next three years?
A. By then,
my father had been murdered and I was ordered to a work camp. All possessions
were gone. I had three items. A striped suit without pockets, a metal bowl and
a metal spoon. That was the sum total of what I had for the next three years. I
never finished grade school or high school during that time. My immediate
family disappeared.
At the end
of my internment I weighed eighty pounds with no family, no money, no skills
and no home.
Q. What do you credit as your
survival during this bleak time of your life?
A. God! When
I was marched to the factories to work I would pray the entire way, and when I
was marched home at the end of the workday I prayed without ceasing.
I wanted to
honor and model my life after my father. He was deeply religious and, in spite
of circumstances, he never blamed God when things got difficult. My mother,
upon returning home from being interned for 3 months, exclaimed “Don’t worry
children possessions can be replaced. God will compensate us with a better
livelihood. Trust the Almighty”. That was her response to coming home and
finding the store had been stripped to the walls.
Q. What do you tell young people that
you meet?
A. Number
one, be grateful for what you have. If you have family that loves you, show
your appreciation. If you have a bed to sleep in, clothes to wear and food to
eat, be grateful. Take nothing for granted and be appreciative of the little
things in life. There were times I never saw a blade of grass, a flower or a
kind word or a touch from another person.
Alter has received over 16,000
letters from students, teachers, prisoners who have heard him speak. He has
also written a book entitled, “From a
Name to a Number”. You can go online to amazon.com to order the book or go
to the public library. I’ll caution you that there is a waiting list for the
book. A good portion of the book is made up of questions that he has received
and his responses.
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