Helen Sperling passed away last week. She was an incredible woman, a Holocaust survivor whose mantra was “Thou shalt not be a bystander.”
I spoke at the annual Yom Hashoah lecture that she sponsored for her community in Utica a few years back. She lived about 100 miles away, so her friend Marsha drove her to Saratoga Springs, the halfway point for us, so that she could meet me and vet me for herself before committing to my lecture. I passed the test. later, my friends at the USHMM found some of her liberation documents for me, which I sent to her. I even found one of the US soldiers who liberated her, in the town near me.
The article and post below is from a couple years ago. I love the photo. Godspeed, Helen. Rest assured that all those whom you touched, will keep the memory alive.
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Helen is a friend of mine. She was liberated in April 1945 by a division of American soldiers that included our high school secretary’s uncle.
At her invitation I traveled to central NY to speak 2 years ago.
She is still going strong. I love her! Her central message to students-“The world needs saving. So, get to it!”
BY RACHEL MURPHY
Rome Observer Staff Writer
ROME, NY. — Holocaust survivor Helen Sperling, 93, recounted the darkest moment of her life before a crowd of more than 300 eighth-graders at Lyndon H. Strough Middle School on Wednesday.
Sperling spoke for two hours about her time in the concentration camps.
Sperling was born to a middle class family where she lived in Poland.
During a school vacation when she was 22 years old, the Germans invaded her home and took her family into a ghetto.
“For the first time in my life, I was completely and utterly helpless,” she said.
During her time in the ghetto, Sperling remembered being able to contact a close friend to wish her a happy birthday. But when Sperling called her friend, who was a Gentile, the friend responded with a racial slur.
“You did not realize who was your friend and who was your enemy,” she said.
She explained that like many other Jewish families, hers was eventually taken from the ghetto and separated into prison camps. She was first placed into Ravensbrück, where she was forced to perform demeaning tasks the Nazi’s used as a way to break her spirit.
But despite the torture, hunger and fear, Sperling managed to survive, along with her younger brother.
“Ninety-nine percent of our survival was sheer luck,” she said. “A little tiny bit of it was hanging on to dignity. Once you lost that, you didn’t have a chance.”
Sperling’s parents did not survive.
Her family was among the 6 million other Jews that were sent to death camps and were killed by the Nazis.
Sperling placed two family photographs on a table nearby as she spoke to the students.
“These are mine, and I miss them terribly,” she said of her family members.
However, she continues to share her story to hopefully inspire and educate others.
“I want them to know that they can do something. I don’t want them to be bystanders,” she said.
Sperling added that even though it is difficult to retell it’s worth it.
“As long as I can do and as many schools as I can cover I want to,” she said.
Assistant Principal Michael Stalteri explained that he hopes the students learn from Sperling’s life and positive outlook.
“Her story resonates with what goes on in their lives when they’re being persecuted, picked on, harassed, bullied or made to feel different,” he said. “Hearing Mrs. Sperling’s story of triumph and her message is exhilarating.”
After Sperling finished her story each student hugged her, and she gave them an anti-bullying bracelet.
http://romeobserver.com/articles/2013/03/15/news/doc5140d89a9dd53321768186.txt?viewmode=fullstory
Teaching History Matters 