Remembering the Past with Ms. Judith Altmann, a Holocaust survivor

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

people, work, Holocaust survivor, Auschwitz, Jewish, year, day, spoke, Erica, mother, family, man, walked, Holocaust, hate, hour, German, Judith, gave, young

SPEAKERS

Steven Altmann, Judith Altmann, Amy Vujaklija, Joi Patterson

Judith Altmann: 00:03

It enlightens for the world, what hate and discrimination can do, and be aware of it and do something if you see something wrong.

Amy Vujaklija: 00:15

Welcome to our podcast teaching and leading with Dr. Amy and Dr. Joi. I am Dr. Amy Vujaklija, Director of educator preparation.

Joi Patterson: 00:27

And I am back to Joi Patterson chief diversity officer. Our podcast addresses issues through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion, along with solutions for us to grow as educators.

Amy Vujaklija: 00:42

So join us on our journey to become better teachers and leaders. So let's get into it. Hi, I'm Dr. Amy and this episode of teaching and leading with Dr. Amy and Dr. Joi honors the international Holocaust Remembrance Day, designated for January 27 each year. I want to thank Dr. Joy for her work to develop diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging at Governor State University. She hosts regular lunch and learns with speakers in rich conversations. And this time, attendees were privileged to hear from Judith Altman, a 99 year old Holocaust survivor. You will hear Stephen Altman introduce his mother, and how Judas Allman has made it her life's work to share what hate can do. She is a true teacher and leader.

Joi Patterson: 01:51

Good afternoon everyone. Today is very special. I really anticipated today's session even got nervous about today's session. I don't know why I'm nervous. I'm not the speaker. Was that nervous today? Because we really worked hard on making today possible today. As you know, we're going to talk about the Holocaust. And as we approach the international Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is what is its place on Friday, I think is the official Remembrance Day, we take a moment to reflect on one of the darkest chapters in our history. Those days serves as a solemn reminder of the millions of lives loss, the suffering endured, and the unwavering importance of preserving the memory of the Holocaust. So that is why we are here today we are showing our commitment. And we're just really fostering an environment that values people and education, empathy and respect for everyone. Thank

Steven Altmann: 03:00

you very, very much. Really appreciate it. My mom Judith Altman is a Holocaust survivor. She was born in Myasthenia Czechoslovakia in 1924. She spent the last 30 years speaking at schools and teaching our young people what hate and discrimination can do. Without further ado, I turn you over to Judith Altman. Thank

Judith Altmann: 03:24

you. My name is Judith Altman, and I am a Holocaust survivor. Thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. Without it, there would be no way for us to tell our young people what hate and discrimination can do. My advice to you learn all you can. The knowledge of languages I spoke saved my life because of that. I was picked to be saved. So study all you can. I was born a year Siena a small town of about 15,000 inhabitants in Czechoslovakia. I was 14 years old. When the Nazis invaded in 1939. Hitler had already invaded Austria and after the Sudetenland was annex all of Czechoslovakia fell. He did not stop on March 15 1939. He just walked in, walked into Czechoslovakia, with the entire army, open the windows from the Prague Castle and said, We are here to protect you. He said he meant from the Russians. All of us were ready to fight my brothers already dressed in their check uniform. They all went through the army, but nothing happened. Czechoslovakia gave up every employee was so disappointed. Why didn't we fight? I was the youngest of six children. In my family. All Jewish people were required to wear a yellow star of Damon. This included the 5000 Jewish families in my hometown. You had to sew it down on the left arm. And and on the back, we will mark the we're actually marked. Every Jewish man from the age of 18 to 45 was taken to slave labor camp. Most of them never returned. Hitler's aim was to kill all the Jews. He said he is going to kill all this love. That meant anybody of Slavic descent, like post checks, or Yugoslavs. He wanted a Reiner rosette, a pure race. All Germans when he was finished with the war, 6 million Jews were killed 10 million people all together. Jewish men were taken from the town first, to date men, mass graves. The following day, German officers and soldiers forced all the Jewish people as of the time to the grave site. They were forced to get undressed, so the army could repurpose their clothing and then killed the brutality. They shot the children are first. The Fall was then in at the end the mothers. The mothers had to watch all their their husbands and children be shot into the mass grave. In 1943. The Germans determine this process was too costly and too slow, and decided to build gas chambers in crematoriums that would killed 1000s pandang. This was all planned ahead of time, India, Siena. My father owned a gentle soul. And my family also had a farm when I was able to live with my parents. Until 1944. Two of my brothers had been taken to slave labor camps in Poland. In my two sisters, who were already married, lived near the family's farm. One was a yes Cena and another. Another one, my sister Charlotte, left about a half hour away from Poland, with her husband and their three year old daughter, and seven year old son. Although the German army had taken away our soul, and most of the animals and our farm, we were left with one cow, which provided some milk, butter and cheese. And we hired a local man who was not Jewish to take food to my sister Charlotte, and her family. One day, he comes back with a satchel with the food. And he said to my parents, I regret very much that I could not deliver the food to Charlotte, as I've witnessed execution. After that, we had to stop attending school.

Amy Vujaklija: 09:19

You are listening to teaching and leading with Dr. Amy and Dr. Joy with special guest presentation by Judith Altman, a Holocaust survivor.

Judith Altmann: 09:31

German officers took over our house and me and my mother moved into the summer kitchen. Well, my father, who had been beat by the German soldiers hid in the attic. My oldest brother, who had been living in Belgium, was able to escape to the United States in 1939. He was the only that key one. Every day there are different rumors. We were petrified and frightened at all time. It was a horrible thing. What I hate and discrimination can do. Every every one. Early one morning in April 1944, two German officers into Hungary Hungarian gendarmes knocked on our window. We were told we had an half hour to prepare and should pack any in all valuables. My father, who was a religious man, took his sprayable in I took my manicure set, a gift of my most recent birthday, I had to persuade my mother to go with us as she was threatening suicide. It was Easter Sunday. So this time of the year is very painful. We marched six kilometres to town. The non Jewish people looked at us, and nobody said anything. Nobody asked even Where are you taking these people. He's got accidents that went to school with me. My family was directed to the Jewish cemetery, where we remained for one week before being put on a train to Hungary. We lived in a ghetto with 1000s of Jewish people from all over the region. Conditions were very crammed with multiple felon families in a house. Six weeks later, we were put on another train this time, rather than passenger cars, fever packed into cattle cars 75 to 80 people in each with no food and one tiny window for air. The train did not move until the following morning. People were already dying and children were screaming due to hunger and thirst. The SS man threatened to shoot everyone if they could not make the screaming stop. We had to tie the people smiled in their hands in order that they would not scream. When the train stopped. Men, women and children were instructed to line up and the soldiers killed anyone who was sick and could no longer work with their bayonets. Those who were able to march for about an hour to a place they would later learn was Auschwitz, the largest of the Nazi concentration camps. I remember seeing a German officer. He was tall with shiny boots, and carried a rubber stick in his hand in front of us laws. Dr. Josef Mengele. He was called the angel of death. He he was to determine who shall live a shoe who shall die. He looked at me and pointed to the left and directed my parents to the right. We will marching to the left. They will march to the death. I will see them to align with other healthy young people. Mengele had selected for work. We all had beautiful hair. They cut our hair completely bold. And we were told to go to step a step further. And we stood in front of a barrel. We were told to get undressed, completely naked. We were given a little tiny piece of soap. And in front of us it says water. In our case, we went into a shower. But in our parents case, they went into the gas chamber and immediately to the bottle. So the entire Camp was surrounded by barbed wire. That was the length electrified, and if anyone tried to escape, they were shot immediately by guards armed with machine guns in the towers. I was given a plain gray dress and a pair of wooden shoes and stood inside for many hours. I worked one hour from Auschwitz to be a canal bear. 1400 women were placed in huge, low barracks. They slept them bunks that looked like bookshelves. And the supervisor was also Jewish, told us not to make a sound. Suddenly, that is the most horrific smell of burning. It's choking. I asked another Czech prisoner who had been there for a few years. What is that horrible smell? She said, Oh, these are your parents burning. The prisoners were woken up at 5am. Inmate to send for roll call each day. You stand there, and Dr. Josef Mengele comes every other day and looks at the people that he already went through. If you aren't pale, he'll take you out. If he sees two girls looking alike like sisters, he will take one hour or an hour or a mother and daughter that he might have picked. He'll take one out. He did not want to have any relatives together. He stood align for restore the nine hours. We had been given no food and were afraid that we would die of hunger. After the second day. We were given a little dish so we could get a little soup in the evening. We received two ounces of water for the day. It was a horrible place. Our greatest fear was that would not make it that we would not make it back to the barracks from rollcall.

Amy Vujaklija: 17:38

You are listening to special guest Judith Altman tell her story of being a Holocaust survivor.

Judith Altmann: 17:46

I stood by for six weeks in Auschwitz, before being taken by train to the Gilson care handwork camp in Germany. I was one of about 2000s Young Czech women who were taken there to work in shifts, half of them during the day and the other half at night. We were beaten by the assessment in essence, women, but we knew we were out of Auschwitz. It wasn't easy. It was cold. We had to walk barefoot. With we worked there many, many hours again. I was moved next to Essen. And other words came when I worked inside a piece of iron fell on my left wrist and it broke. If I could not work, I would be taken away, never to be seen again. There was an essence woman, Erica, she liked me because I spoke at fluent German. Actually, I spoke six languages in was deemed useful for my ability to translate. I was doomed because my arm was broken. And they were going to take me away to send me back to Auschwitz, or whatever was the nearest extermination camp. Erica said Do not take this girl. I need her because she does the translation for me. She saved my life. I was taken to another camp, which was even worse. If I would get any food from one day to the next. And then I was told to go on a deathmatch that would end at the Bergen Belsen concentration camp. At this point, we are so emaciated. We are barely breathing. You see a mother and a daughter and one is dying or she is already dead. The other one that is still alive, does not want to leave the sibling or the daughter. We have to pull them away in hopes that they will survive. Then we start marching and we walk without any food. Occasionally, they will throw and then a little for us. From the time, nothing, it was the most horrible thing that I could tell you. When I finally got to Bergen Belsen, it was the worst scam that you can imagine. It was unbelievable. Dead bodies where ever you turn. My niece was with me and was so hungry. She asked me to help. I see the SS man behind the wire, walking with a gun and eating a sandwich. I said to myself, what can I carry my shoot me? I can't take it any longer myself. And I asked him, Can you spare a bite. He called me different names. And as he walked by, he grabbed a little piece of his sandwich. It's under the buyer and he walks away. I use the steak to pull the sandwich under the wire and, and brought it back to my knees, dividing it into three, three portions between me my knees and another girl. Hand on the war, Hitler had ordered each of the camps to suck a barrack, full of sliced bread that had been poisoned. He'd already seen that he was losing the war. He says if you see either the allies or the Americans, or the Russians coming in there near the camp, give everyone a slice of poison bread so that they should find bodies, not people. Fortunately, those orders were not carried out at any of the camps. I was sick with typhus and near death. When my cane was liberated in 1945. By the British army. One of the soldiers spoke to me in English. I said, I must be dreaming. He didn't think I was young. I must have looked 100 years old to them. He said you are free. You are free. What a wonderful, wonderful things to be to rain. Many more people died in the first few days after liberation, because the soldiers gave them all the food they had. And the people ate so much. Their stomach couldn't tolerate that. churches and schools were converted into hospitals to give help to the 1000s who survived at this point. I had a choice to make. Now we are free. But what do we do? We know we have no more parents. Do we have any siblings left? What do we do? My niece is still alive as well. I saw her in one of the places in a bed with a white sheet. She said as soon as I'm able to stand on my feet. I am going to go back home hoping that I will find my brother. I said I am not going back. I have nobody there. Instead, I chose to go to Sweden, which I knew was a free country and was not involved in the war. I spent six weeks in a quarantine and one year in a hospital regaining my health after Once again back to school and waited to go to the United States that I had a brother, a grandmother, uncles and aunts, all bathing. I have dedicated my life, to educating children about the Holocaust, and helping well ever I can. Thank you again for your invitation to speak to you today. Without that, there would be no way for us to tell our young people what hate and discrimination can do. My advice to you learn all you can, the knowledge of languages I spoke saved my life. Because of that, I will speak to be safe. So study all you can. My name is Judy Tolman. I am a Holocaust survivor. And thank you for listening. Okay, Julia, thank you. You're very welcome.

Joi Patterson: 26:06

We have a bit of time for question and answers. But before I forget, I also want to thank the Holocaust, human rights and educational center. They have two Bureau speakers. And this is where I found this beautiful woman here today. And so I want to give a big shout out to them for having this resource. And we want to thank you, again for sharing your testimony sharing such a horrific story. And we are so happy that you have triumph through all of this. So thank you for sharing your story. I'm going to open it up for any questions. In

Amy Vujaklija: 26:48

addition to sharing this information and your experiences, what have you done? And what are you doing to heal to heal your heart?

Judith Altmann: 27:02

One, what I do is by talking to young people, such as you, and in schools for many, many years, and that is a likeness for the world, what hate and discrimination can do, and be aware of it and do something, if you see something wrong. I used to go to schools and speak to them personally. And later I spoke to them online, in order to understand because when time is when life is nice, you don't know these things, but eight can do. So it is up to you young people to do as much as you can and tell them what hate did and what they can do.

Joi Patterson: 27:53

Thank you. Have you been back cuter?

Judith Altmann: 27:56

Yes, yes, I did go once there. And but what do you see, you don't see any graves, anything. You just know when he then they came as we came in with the same directly into the gas chamber and into the crematorium. So that was a very painful stop.

28:20

Were you able to reconcile any of your family members once you were free? We

Judith Altmann: 28:25

know we lost 24 members of my family. And you can of course, when I came to the United States, I had some cousins and some relatives, and they are so precious, because you have somebody of the family. But every friend, you are my friends, you listen to that, and you hear what he can do. And whenever you see anything that isn't about you will stop. You'll see any young boy not not willingly, but just other thing. And you you'll remind them be

29:06

nice that you continue to use our ability to speak those languages in her family life and her career. How did that help her once she came to the United States?

Judith Altmann: 29:18

Yes, indeed. But it whatever you do, if it's languages, stick to it and work at it. It is a wonderful, wonderful feeling. Indeed, it helped me a great deal. Because I was able if somebody didn't understand what what hate Hitler did, I explained it to him and that and Hungarian and the Russian in Czech in German, speak many languages. So that is helpful. But in your case, you might be a good mechanic. You might be a terrific dressmaker, you might be a person that languages do what At least you can teach other people

Joi Patterson: 30:04

have something in your back pocket

Steven Altmann: 30:07

Yes.

30:07

With the rising anti semitism and many of the college campuses, do you have any words of wisdom for resilience for those students in

Judith Altmann: 30:16

Indeed, I have been invited to many universities. And I just tell them, that being first of all, love your mother and father, grandma and grandpa, of course, that's first. And then do wherever you can do good, do good. You see a woman and all the woman carrying two bundles, help us a little bit. And you'll have a terrific day. And you'll help. Whatever help you can do. And you will in smile, as you beautiful. Are.

30:50

took place in Germany in the: 1930

Judith Altmann: 31:04

Indeed it does. It is very scary. I tell you, honestly, Extremely so. But more or less now we are still stand up. And don't be afraid to tell him. He might be not informed. He might just copy somebody tell him that was there. At one time I met two young people. And they put me it was also I spoke to Mary but 400 people, and they called me say Mrs. Oldman, could you come in a corner? And answer me? And she said, Why do they do that? So I said, because they're not thinking, they just copy. His friend says, don't like Jewish people, or black people, or whatever. But you tell him, don't listen to him. Don't listen to what other people you have in mind of your own and make your own judgment.

Joi Patterson: 32:06

Even I have a question for you. Even this is for you. When we faced tragedy, and injustice, it not only affects that individual, we know that it has many arms and tentacles and it affects their entire family. Can you talk about the impact that has had on you, as a child of someone who's a Holocaust survivor?

Steven Altmann: 32:30

Sure, I'm well aware because my mom shared all the stories with me throughout my whole life, even when I was young, and a son and a mother of very close. So when you hear your mother telling those stories and what happened to her back then that's it's really hard to hear. It's very, very painful thinking that your mother is being heard in that fashion. I used to I used to jade green when I was growing up, that I would somehow be able to go back in time and kill Hitler. I mean, that was you know what I thought I was it was always about wanting to help her. But it didn't. It didn't limit me. It didn't. It didn't hurt me in my life. It gave me strength. It gave me purpose. I felt like I had a great childhood. And I couldn't have asked for more more. My mom was very hard working when she you know we have to the camps and I got that from her. So it worked out well for me in my life. The she taught me something very strong, which is very high. Because I don't feel good when somebody does something to us. I think about revenge, you know, I want to get those people back for what they did. You know, but what she taught me was you know, hate only hurts. The person who hates the other people don't know you hate them. And it just hurts yourself. It took a long time. But I finally I finally figured that out.

Joi Patterson: 34:07

You are correct. Hurt people hurt people. You are correct.

34:12

In addition to Erica, and then the soldier with the sandwich. Were there other instances of kindness.

Judith Altmann: 34:20

Now you've heard about Erica, she was an SS woman. And she had the same training, what to do. Keep them keep them very hard of work. Don't don't give them any time if they are barefoot. Let them walk barefoot. Don't let them pick up a shoe maybe along the street. Don't do but she did not do it. She helped them ever she can and when I was liberated, I looked at Erica look go look in all of Germany for the name of Erica without knowing the last name there. But of course, as I looked for years, erode in the newspaper, Erica, who was in this in this camp, I would like to say thank you and do something for you. But which German woman would admit that she was, in essence, woman? Any little bit of help was, was the greatest thing you can imagine?

Joi Patterson: 35:26

Did you ever encounter any of your persecutors after you were free?

Judith Altmann: 35:32

Very good question, indeed. But it was unbelievable how they disappeared. They disappeared OF THE DAY of When we were liberated by the British were the could hate could they have disappear so fast? Because we were not in the physical possession, possession. We were barely we could not even stand up because we were so emaciated from hunger and, and sickness. We, it took one whole year to cure me. And not only me, most of the girls, after we were liberated, one whole year in a hospital in Sweden. But it was wonderful. At that time, I learned another language. Very, very wonderful. The Swedish people as well, like the Americans, as well.

36:26

I just have resilience. I'm just wondering, you know, they say nature versus nurture, but she lost her family. So so I'm just wondering, can she think of something in her life where she she knows for her resilience originates from

Judith Altmann: 36:41

my father was the kind of man that he was as as, as they walked us down to the town, him to the to the cemetery, and be killed, and all that even then had compassion. And he was he was, they are told to do it. It's not the individual, their enemies as well. They ain't you mean they they mean superiors, but that helped me a great deal. And that we were standing in line, and the men were next to us in a row of five and the women row of five. And then that the Josef Mengele, who was called the, the angel of death, He was a tall man extremely handsome, with the most beautiful clothing and an eye of when I passed my father's role, he put his hand on my head. He said, Judy, you will live. And as many times since I was close to death, I remembered No, Papa said, I will live and I made

Joi Patterson: 37:56

and you live such a time as this. Thank you so much.

Judith Altmann: 38:01

Thank you very much. And I wish you all a wonderful, wonderful youth, and wonderful life and peace in all the best in the world.

Amy Vujaklija: 38:13

Thank you for listening to teaching and leading with Dr. Amy and Dr. Joy. Visit our website at govst.edu/teaching and leading podcast to see the show notes from this episode.

Joi Patterson: 38:30

We appreciate Governor State University's work behind the things to make publishing possible. Stay tuned for more episodes with Dr. Amy and Dr. Joi