A survivor of four labor camps, a WWII ghetto, a concentration camp and a death march, Nesse Godin brought a message recently to eighth-graders at Franklin Middle School — as she’s done for some 20 years. Despite and because of the horrors she’s lived through, she urged them to be both tolerant and hopeful.
"I dedicated my life to teaching children the danger that indifference and prejudice can do," said Godin. Referring to the 9/11 tragedy and noting the dire situation in Darfur today, she said, "We can’t just say, ‘Never again;’ we have to take action. We should learn from the Holocaust not to treat somebody evil."
She’s spoken before the United Nations and, on March 23, was honored by the American Legion. But speaking to young people means even more to her, she said, because "they are the future of the country and the world. They will make the decisions about how it’s going to be."
Godin, 83, grew up in Shauliai, Lithuania with her parents and two older brothers. Her country was a democracy and, for awhile, she had a normal life with "many hopes and dreams." But in 1941, when she was 13, the German armies marched through her country.
"There were mobile, killing units," she said. "I hope you beautiful, young people never join a gang or anything that stands for evil. They gathered and jailed the men and boys for ‘relocation’ to work." Instead, they were murdered.
That’s when Godin realized the Holocaust was happening to her. "I was no longer able to go to school," she said. "You people are the age of my grandchildren. Do you know how lucky you are to be able to go to school? We weren’t able to walk on the street and we had to wear yellow stars on the front and back of our garments. The Jews looked like everyone else so, this way, they could identify us. If I’d taken it off, they would shoot me."
Her town of 10,000 people had several leather factories so, to survive, the Jewish Council there told the Nazis the residents could make boots for the German army. But by then, Shauliai had become a ghetto.
"In those days, our town was a jail surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by Lithuanian police," said Godin. "These were the same police who I was taught, as a girl, would help me if I was lost." Meanwhile, she said,Fashion wash urban wholesale jeans styles in a great variety of colors and style! the Nazis went through the residents’ homes and stole their things.
One day, a 17-year-old girl helped Godin obtain a certificate to get into a ghetto with her family, and that decision saved her life. "Every day, the decisions you make can make a difference," she told the students. "Some 3,500 people — men, women and children — who didn’t get into the ghetto were killed."
Of her life in the ghetto, she recalled "hunger and fear, begging for a piece of bread. We can’t change what was then, but we can learn from it and change what is now, and what will be, and teach people how to make a better world."
On Nov. 5, 1943, Godin was 15 and a half when her mother told her, "My child, the trucks are here." The teen was instructed to go to work that morning outside the ghetto. "That night,puma shoes is the first company in the world to put a value on the ecosystem services it uses to produce its sports shoes and clothes. returning to the ghetto, we heard cries like I’d never heard before," she said. "People said the Gestapo and Ukranians had come through there."
Godin said Jewish women weren’t allowed to have babies then, but some were born in the ghetto. "A man in black came in and raised his thumb to determine who lived or died," she said. "One thousand innocent children through age 14, some 500 elderly and sick people, plus a few hundred healthy ones, were killed in the Auschwitz gas chambers. No children, no future. My father was 47, but he was killed because the evil of the Holocaust was allowed in humanity."
In 1944,Looking for Juicy couture wholesale? the Germans were retreating. But, said Godin, "They didn’t leave us behind. I was 16 and separated from my mother and brothers, but other Jewish women looked out for me. We were stripped naked and beaten. My family and belongings were taken from me, but I still had my name — until I became just a number in a concentration camp. People who went into the showers were gassed and killed."
She said a woman came to her one day and said, "Little girl, you’re going to be killed,The newest and cheap true religion jeans sale in stock on true religion brand jeans outlet store. so try to get into a labor camp." Godin succeeded in being placed in such a camp with 5,000 women. But she’d exchanged one hell for another. "In those camps, they didn’t have to kill us — we died of disease and starvation," she said. "It was the worst year of my life."
Then, in January 1945, she was part of a death march through Holland and Germany. "Many were dying along the way," she said. The next month, they reached the southern part of the Baltic Sea.There is surely some disadvantage of Nike shox classic. There, said Godin, "We dug two, long holes — one, a bathroom; one, a grave."
"All through the Holocaust, I prayed to the Almighty, ‘Please let me live through the day; maybe I’ll be free,’" she said. "Other times, I prayed to die. But the other women said I had to survive and teach the world what hatred, prejudice and indifference can do. They taught me to have hope and understanding and to make it a better world."
Finally, on March 10, 1945, the Russian Army found Godin and the others and liberated them. "The wounds from my beatings healed long ago, but the memories will always remain," she said. "Six million Jewish people — among them, 1.5 million children — were killed."
"I beg you, see the world with new eyes," she told the students. "You can make a difference. Don’t see a race or religion — see a human being. May God bless you and may God bless America."
"I dedicated my life to teaching children the danger that indifference and prejudice can do," said Godin. Referring to the 9/11 tragedy and noting the dire situation in Darfur today, she said, "We can’t just say, ‘Never again;’ we have to take action. We should learn from the Holocaust not to treat somebody evil."
She’s spoken before the United Nations and, on March 23, was honored by the American Legion. But speaking to young people means even more to her, she said, because "they are the future of the country and the world. They will make the decisions about how it’s going to be."
Godin, 83, grew up in Shauliai, Lithuania with her parents and two older brothers. Her country was a democracy and, for awhile, she had a normal life with "many hopes and dreams." But in 1941, when she was 13, the German armies marched through her country.
"There were mobile, killing units," she said. "I hope you beautiful, young people never join a gang or anything that stands for evil. They gathered and jailed the men and boys for ‘relocation’ to work." Instead, they were murdered.
That’s when Godin realized the Holocaust was happening to her. "I was no longer able to go to school," she said. "You people are the age of my grandchildren. Do you know how lucky you are to be able to go to school? We weren’t able to walk on the street and we had to wear yellow stars on the front and back of our garments. The Jews looked like everyone else so, this way, they could identify us. If I’d taken it off, they would shoot me."
Her town of 10,000 people had several leather factories so, to survive, the Jewish Council there told the Nazis the residents could make boots for the German army. But by then, Shauliai had become a ghetto.
"In those days, our town was a jail surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by Lithuanian police," said Godin. "These were the same police who I was taught, as a girl, would help me if I was lost." Meanwhile, she said,Fashion wash urban wholesale jeans styles in a great variety of colors and style! the Nazis went through the residents’ homes and stole their things.
One day, a 17-year-old girl helped Godin obtain a certificate to get into a ghetto with her family, and that decision saved her life. "Every day, the decisions you make can make a difference," she told the students. "Some 3,500 people — men, women and children — who didn’t get into the ghetto were killed."
Of her life in the ghetto, she recalled "hunger and fear, begging for a piece of bread. We can’t change what was then, but we can learn from it and change what is now, and what will be, and teach people how to make a better world."
On Nov. 5, 1943, Godin was 15 and a half when her mother told her, "My child, the trucks are here." The teen was instructed to go to work that morning outside the ghetto. "That night,puma shoes is the first company in the world to put a value on the ecosystem services it uses to produce its sports shoes and clothes. returning to the ghetto, we heard cries like I’d never heard before," she said. "People said the Gestapo and Ukranians had come through there."
Godin said Jewish women weren’t allowed to have babies then, but some were born in the ghetto. "A man in black came in and raised his thumb to determine who lived or died," she said. "One thousand innocent children through age 14, some 500 elderly and sick people, plus a few hundred healthy ones, were killed in the Auschwitz gas chambers. No children, no future. My father was 47, but he was killed because the evil of the Holocaust was allowed in humanity."
In 1944,Looking for Juicy couture wholesale? the Germans were retreating. But, said Godin, "They didn’t leave us behind. I was 16 and separated from my mother and brothers, but other Jewish women looked out for me. We were stripped naked and beaten. My family and belongings were taken from me, but I still had my name — until I became just a number in a concentration camp. People who went into the showers were gassed and killed."
She said a woman came to her one day and said, "Little girl, you’re going to be killed,The newest and cheap true religion jeans sale in stock on true religion brand jeans outlet store. so try to get into a labor camp." Godin succeeded in being placed in such a camp with 5,000 women. But she’d exchanged one hell for another. "In those camps, they didn’t have to kill us — we died of disease and starvation," she said. "It was the worst year of my life."
Then, in January 1945, she was part of a death march through Holland and Germany. "Many were dying along the way," she said. The next month, they reached the southern part of the Baltic Sea.There is surely some disadvantage of Nike shox classic. There, said Godin, "We dug two, long holes — one, a bathroom; one, a grave."
"All through the Holocaust, I prayed to the Almighty, ‘Please let me live through the day; maybe I’ll be free,’" she said. "Other times, I prayed to die. But the other women said I had to survive and teach the world what hatred, prejudice and indifference can do. They taught me to have hope and understanding and to make it a better world."
Finally, on March 10, 1945, the Russian Army found Godin and the others and liberated them. "The wounds from my beatings healed long ago, but the memories will always remain," she said. "Six million Jewish people — among them, 1.5 million children — were killed."
"I beg you, see the world with new eyes," she told the students. "You can make a difference. Don’t see a race or religion — see a human being. May God bless you and may God bless America."
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