Stories of Survival: "As he fell down the staircase, they shot him."

I find few things more compelling and captivating than the testimony of genocide survivors. Occasionally, I highlight such stories on the blog, which often appear in local newspaper following a survivor's presentation at a school, place of worship, or business.

Holocaust survivor Jay Ipson recently told students at James Madison University about how he lived on less than 1000 calories a week while living in a ghetto in Lithuania. Of the 208,000 Jews in Lithuania before WWII, only about 5,000 survived.

Israel Unger survived the Holocaust by hiding in the attic of a mill in a small Polish town:

One of Unger's most horrendous childhood memories was witnessing the murder of his mother's father, his grandfather Chaim Fisch.

"My grandfather was an observant, pious Orthodox Jew and two Nazis came into his apartment and ordered him to come with them. And he stood up and reached for his prayer bag ... and tucked it under his arm and he went with them.

"It was a small, upstairs apartment and he came to the staircase and they shoved him or they kicked him or pushed him and he fell down the stairs. As he fell down the staircase, they shot him," Unger said.

Beatrice Muchman describes hiding with a Catholic family in Belgium, while the rest of her family was sent to concentration camps.

David Katz spoke of his experience of the Holocaust during the U.S. Fleet Forces Command's observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

[Photo of Jay Ipson.]