Before Eternal Flame I of course knew about the Holocaust. My school did a unit on it last year, and of course every jewish individual must know at least some background information about the tragedy. What I lacked was a connection to the holocaust, a way of truly knowing the depth of it’s horridness. My grandmother was a survivor, but made it out of Germany before the camp’s were largely in use, and my other grandparents were unfortunately dead before I got to here their stories. I had never heard or felt for a person who truly experienced it, and that’s where Eternal Flame stepped in. In two of our meeting’s I was blessed to hear Bella Miller’s story and a survivors daughter speak.
I saw the numbers on one of their arms and heard their passionate story of capture, survival, and prosperity. They never lost hope and always had an idea, even ever so slight, that they would always survive. I could only describe it as inspiring that these people who were tortured and punished for the most twisted of reasons still saw survival as a reasonable solution. Eternal Flame opened my eyes wider than the school spectrum of holocaust study, to a more personal and raw level, and I believe that my life has been bettered from the entire experience.
Bennett Rosner, 15, Park Ridge