Holocaust survivor speaks to students

By Jaryd Wilson

Published April 20, 2007

For some students at MU, the most tragic event that has happened in their lifetime is the Sept. 11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.

But for Maria Szapszewicz, tragedy cannot even begin to describe what she went through between 1939 and 1945.

Szapszewicz is a Holocaust survivor who spoke Thursday at MU. She was in the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, and when she was liberated at age 19, was among only 5 percent of the children who survived.

"Six million deaths would be like wiping out the states of Missouri and Hawaii," Szapszewicz said. "Think about what those people could have contributed to our culture."

Szapszewicz said some of the most important people in the world were Jews, and they did not deserve the punishment they received.

"Jesus and Moses were both Jewish," she said. "Jews have won 20 percent of the Nobel Prizes."

Szapszewicz said when the Germans came and chased her and her family out of their home, they were not allowed to bring anything with them. She said Jews were not allowed to ride trains, so all of their transportation had to be done by foot or horseback.

"We were all so hungry — they starved us," Szapszewicz said. "Sometimes we would lie about our age just to get more food because they gave more to the older people."

The Germans killed Szapszewicz's father and one of her brothers during the Holocaust. She and her mother survived, but her mother died of cancer soon after.

Szapszewicz said motivation came from hope and faith as it was all they had at time.

"We were only given food three or four days a week," she said. "We were chewing on wood and eating bark from trees when we could."

Szapszewicz said it was hard to walk in the streets because there were so many dead bodies and the odor was terrible. In the camps, the Jews were forced to dig trenches to put the dead bodies in while being held at gunpoint.

"This was the worst tragedy in the history of human existence," Szapszewicz said.

Szapszewicz said when she was liberated, she was the first in the camp to know, but nobody believed her when she tried to tell others. When the doctors weighed them, Szapszewicz was 56 pounds and her mother was 47 pounds. It took her seven months to fully recover.

Szapszewicz said she wasn't telling her story to make people feel sorry for her, but rather to send a message that people should be strong and help others.

"God created us all the same way," she said. "We can't afford to be prejudiced. We have to help and assist other people."

Szapszewicz said this generation of young adults is the last that will hear a Holocaust survivor.

"Don't wait until tomorrow to start making a better world," Szapszewicz said. "Do it now. There is enough bread for everybody."