Through the decades since World War II, countless stories have been told about the Holocaust, from the human tragedy that unfolded to the endless courage of its survivors.
Matthew Rozell has his own story to share.
The history teacher from Hudson Falls and founder of the World War II Living History Project told a story of hope and the human experience during the annual Helen and Leon Sperling Holocaust Memorial Lecture Monday at the Jewish Community Center.
While speaking to World War II veterans, Rozell said he found a very different story of the Holocaust.
On April 13, 1945, near Magdeburg, Germany, the U.S. 9th Army 30th Infantry Division liberated a train of 2,500 Jewish people as they left the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Rozell began a project speaking with the soldiers who were there. As he posted his findings online, he began receiving responses from the survivors who wanted to meet the soldiers who saved their lives.
Now, after several reunions, more than 200 survivors have come forward, Rozell said.
“This is the power of love finally coming full circle,” he said. “The ripple effect is reaching many thousands of lives.”
Rozell told stories of survivors meeting those who saved them. The soldiers took the time to stop, even though they didn’t have to, he said.
As Rozell, his students and those attending his lectures continue to hear the stories, they share the history.
“It builds bridges between the present and past,” he said. “History certainly isn’t dead.”
It is important to pass the stories on, he said.
“All the stories have a really powerful message of hope and optimism, of good triumphing over evil,” Rozell said. “It sounds cliché, but it’s really not. It’s a very powerful thing,”
Helen Sperling, local Holocaust survivor and the lecture event founder, said Rozell’s story took a very different approach.
“It was lovely,” she said.
Vicki Socolof, of Ilion, said she attends the lectures every year.
“It’s always moving,” she said.
Susie Hamilton, of Clinton, part of the community center’s Holocaust Committee, also said the event was moving.
“Tonight was about celebrating the other great people in the world,” Hamilton said.
Rozell is traveling to Israel with his 13 year old son and a 94 year old US Army liberator in two weeks to meet with 60 Holocaust survivors and their families and the US ambassador to Israel, among other dignitaries. A fund has been set up to offset expenses; for more information, please his his website at https://teachinghistorymatters.wordpress.com/rozell-trip/
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