I’ve never been this excited to go to a birthday party.

Next Sunday I will be attending Leon Weinstein’s 100th birthday. Weinstein is a Holocaust survivor who I have gotten to know this semester.

As a student in Marilyn Harran’s Holocaust History Through Film class, I have been invited as a guest of the 1939 Club, an organization of survivors and their children.

I signed up for the class on a whim because I was interested in the Holocaust. I’ve always enjoyed history, but it’s been an on-again, off-again hobby.

Until this semester, my interest had never been more than a passing fancy.

Now, I sit in class and listen to Harran speak and I’m inspired. She has changed the way education treats Holocaust history. Our class is centered on different films and how they portray the Holocaust. We’ve met directors, screenwriters and survivors who have told stories and answered questions in our class.

This class has allowed me opportunities I never dreamed possible.

I’ve been lucky enough to dance with Holocaust survivors, eat dinner with them and hear some of their stories. And next week I will be going to Weinstein’s birthday party.

Harran speaks about how important it is to become the witness to the witnesses. When all the survivors have passed, we will be the ones in charge of passing on the stories, the memories and the truth.

When I listen to a survivor’s story, it breaks my heart. But that’s not why they’re telling me. They want me to understand and mostly, they want their stories heard. They want us to remember so it will never happen again.

And that’s an obligation I am more than willing to take on.


Contact this reporter: taylor.johnson@thepantheronline.com