We have started the year with an incredible and very sobering presentation to our Gr. 6-8 students. Faigie Libman spoke to our students this week to relate her experiences during WWII. She made an impression that students will not soon forget. Her overarching message for students to be kind to each other is one which we will repeat many times in the course of this school year.
Please read the account that one student wrote (below) of what she heard:
The Story of Faigie Libman
By:Li
Unfortunately, not many people can say they survived the horrific events of the Holocaust. So, when Faigie Libman, a Jewish holocaust survivor, came to our school to tell us her story, the grade 6-8 students were thrilled by the opportunity to hear about the holocaust from someone who, thankfully, lived through it. Ms. Libman was a fantastic speaker, and her story was moving, sad, and made many of the students be a little more thankful for their families, belongings, and an almost trouble-free life. Before WWII affected Lithuania, the country where Ms. Libman lived, Faigie lived a good, joyful life, with her strict mother, and more of an easy-going father. But that happy life ended dramatically, when her family was forced to abandon their house, and arrive at Kaunas Ghetto*. Faigie, and her family, were allowed to bring only their most prized possessions, and so, she brought only one thing to the Ghetto, her Shirley Temple doll, that she got from her Aunt on her 5th birthday.
But, things only got worse for Faigie, and her family. They were sent to labor camp, where her father worked, and her mother, a nurse, did her best to help the sick in the camp. One day, Faigie went to work with her mother, only to come back, and discover she was the only child left in the camp, for the Nazis took away all the children, and elderly, including her grandmother, to be killed. In this situation, many people might have given up hope, and faith, but not Faigie. “I always told my parents, ‘Everything will get better!’” she explained to the crowd. “I was always optimistic”. But, neither she, nor her family could prevent what happened next. Her father, whom she loved, was split from her, and her mother. The two were sent to a concentration camp for women, where all 10 year olds were killed. Faigie was 10 at the time, which made her mother naturally worried. So, instead of losing hope, she lied that her daughter was actually 12, and to her relief, the Nazis believed her. Faigie worked in the camp until 1944, when the women were to go on the “Death March”.
They walked in the snow, with no jackets, and coats for days, until something wonderful happened. “I will never forget that moment” said Faigie, with a smile on her face. A man on a horse, from the Russian Resistance appeared, and told all the women left, they were free.
Faigie traveled to Montreal, Canada, 3 years after the war had ended, during the year 1948, with her mother, but unfortunately, not with her father, who died in the camp he was sent to. In Canada, Faigie returned to school, and finally, had a normal life once again. Today, she is a retired kindergarten teacher, who goes around schools in Canada, to spread her story. The final thing Faigie showed to the crowd, was a nice Shirley Temple doll. She explained she got it from a mother of a girl who heard her story. “I keep this doll as a reminder, that there are good people in the world” she finished.
Here is a photo of Ms. Libman presenting to our students.
