Video: Holocaust survivor Kalman Perk describes escape from cattle car
Born in 1930 in Kaunas, Lithuania, Kalman Perk was deported with his family to the Kovno ghetto in 1941. Hiding in a cellar in July 1944 to escape the impending liquidation of the ghetto, the family was forced to abandon their hiding place due to German-ignited fires in the ghetto. They were then loaded onto a cattle car and deported to the concentration camps. Convinced by his parents that he must escape, Kalman jumped out the window of the moving train and fled eastward into Russia. Kalman adopted the last words his father spoke to him before escaping from the train, "Be a decent person", as the guiding principle of his life.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:02 AM
3 Comments:
This comment has been removed by the author.
This comment has been removed by the author.
I'm sure we're all moved by his father's last words. No - I don't think that death is the final answer. From somewhere in Heaven, I'm sure that along with G-d, Kalman Perk's parents are proud of their son. A great evil snuffed out a great many human lives, how many exactly is known only to G-d but the most important message we are taught from the Holocaust is the triumph of the human spirit and the life of every survivor should be counted like a beautiful light carried into the world not just for themselves but for all those who are gone. They are literally living Yizkor candles and we will see that light of theirs even after G-d has taken away the very last one of them from among the living. Let us treasure that always.
Post a Comment
<< Home