I just got an e-mail from the university saying that Bob Mendler, a regular guest speaker of our National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education, has died.
At age 13, he was forced into Nazi slavery, and survived the death of dozens of his immediate family members. In 2008, a blogger posted a detailed account of Mendler’s story.
“I am a Holocaust survivor,” Mendler stated, baring his arm bearing
its permanent number on it. “I want you to know I am not a number and I
am not a statistic. I am a human being. I had parents a long time ago.”
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Thank you so much for passing along the news of Mr. Mendler’s passing.
Hearing him speak in my senior seminar focused around Holocaust literature was one of my most profound experiences in college. I particularly remember when he told us that he went back to some of the camps he’d been held in and worked in, and told the tour guide what was wrong about his spiel.
His story will live on in me, and in so many others whose lives he truly touched. His bravery to speak out resonates with me the most. He talked about atrocities, but they’re not what I hold with me in my memory of Mendler. His struggle to survive and believe — the greatest legacy of the Holocaust — is what I will share when I tell people I met a survivor.