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Survivor of Holocaust Gives
Lesson in Caring
Published in Trenton Times
by Andrea Alexander, Staff
Writer
The
most frightening time of day for
Maud Dahme when she was hiding
from the Nazis during her
childhood in Holland was the
morning.
"I'd
wake and not know if this was
the day they were going to find
us," she told a group of
fourth-graders yesterday at the
Antheil Elementary School.
"My
sister and I had to change our
names and we couldn't go to
school. We didn't even know
where our parents were when we
were in hiding," she said.
"There was nothing. No food.
During the occupation the
Germans took everything to eat."
Over
the past two days, Dahme, now
vice president of the New Jersey
State Board of Education, told
her story to all fourth and
fifth grade classes in Ewing.
The Nazis wanted to kill her
because she was Jewish, she
said, an idea most of the
fourth-graders found difficult
to understand.
It
is hard to believe, but I know
there are people out there who
are not good, and they do
terrible things," fourth-grader
Carlos Molina said after the
talk.
Dahme told the students about
the two families who took her
and her sister, Rita, in. At the
time, Dahme was 6 years old and
her sister was 4.
She
told the students that some
people dies in the gas chambers,
but she intentionally avoided
focusing on the atrocities.
Instead, she emphasized that
some people cared enough to risk
their lives to protect the Jews.
After the classroom session she
observed, "As adults, we all
know what happened in Europe. I
think it is more important to
talk about the caring, so
children can get an
understanding of what it means
to help people."
At
the beginning of her talks,
Dahme said she usually asks
students if they would help
someone, the way the families
back in Holland helped her. Few
children raise their hands. But
when she is done and asks the
same question, Dahme said every
hand in the room goes up.
Dahme begins her story by
explaining, "My family got a
letter from the Germans that
said we were supposed to take a
train to a work camp. We didn't
know then what it meant, but my
parents heard about an
underground railroad that was
hiding families, and they let my
sister and I go."
After a few months in hiding,
the underground railroad
informed them that Nazis were
coming to search the village for
Jews. The children were sent to
stay with a second family in the
country, and that is where they
remained for the duration of the
war.
Dahme said her parents weren't
told where their children were
sent. It was safer that way, she
said, because if her parents
were caught, they wouldn't be
able to give the Germans any
information.
When
Canadian troops liberated the
town where Dahme was hiding, she
learned her parents had survived
by hiding in a neighbor's attic
for three years.
After her talk, many students
who questioned Dahme could not
understand why the Nazis wanted
to kill all the Jews. "Why did
they make you wear stars on your
clothes," one student asked. "To
degrade us," Dahme answered.
"Why did Hitler hate the Jews,"
asked another. "I think he was
jealous, but I don't know," she
answered.
The
afternoon left fourth-grader
Joban Brar worried about her
Jewish friends, because she said
she doesn't know who would save
them if the Holocaust happened
again. "It is so sad to hear her
talk," Joban said. "My friend's
grandparents died during World
War II. To make her feel better,
I told her I'd pray it never
happens again."
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