Survivor opens Conference on the Holocaust

Gerda Weissmann Klein, a Holocaust survivor and subject of an Academy Award-winning documentary, spoke last night at Hillel to usher in the 19th annual Conference on the Holocaust.

"When my generation is gone, there will be no more witnesses to this darkest chapter of history," said Klein, urging more than 200 listeners to "erase hatred" and practice love and understanding.

Following a showing of "One Survivor Remembers," the documentary based on Klein's story, an emotional Klein was introduced by her granddaughter, LSA senior Alyssa Ullman.

"No doubt you know how very slim the chances were that I'd be a grandmother," said Klein, comparing the joys of being a grandmother with the thrill of accepting her Academy Award.

"I have learned ... that the meaning of life cannot be found in the momentary heights to which many people aspire," Klein said. "The view from up there is beautiful, but cold and very lonely.

"The embraces of my grandchildren are very warm," she said.

Two of the conference's organizers, LSA sophomores Lauren Ernst and Lani Roth, emphasized the importance of educating people about the atrocities and of seeing a survivor face-to-face.

They said the main objective of this year's conference was to bring in more exciting speakers and larger crowds.

Ullman said her grandmother's message of optimism is particularly relevant to students today. When people ask Klein how she persevered against hopeless odds, she simply notes that in her camp of thousands of girls, there were no suicides.

She attributed this to "the spirit of young people to prefer life, always life, in preference to death ... the darker the night, the brighter the dawn."

This year's Conference on the Holocaust will continue on Thursday with the Memorial of Names, a continuous 24-hour reading of the names of Holocaust victims.

Other events part of the Conference on the Holocaust include a panel discussion about hate speech on the Internet, several speeches by scholars and authors and a showing of the film "Border Street."

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