"I will tell your story to the future group of Abbeys"

A French resistant holocaust survivor speaker came to enlightment us "Americans" in the abbey. You hear a million stories, watch tons of movies that make you cry, and read the books of the holocaust survivors but It just so happens it never occurs to you how terrible it is until you see the actual pictures from someone who has been there. Our guest speaker became a member of the resistance at age 15. And at 15 he was captured and interrogated by the police, then sent to a concentration camp. Although he spoke no english and his story was translated it caused everyone in the room to remain silent. He was given a number and told to always speak that number in German. His number was in the 4,000's. Everyday wake up call was early in the morning, followed by gruesome excercise that forced even the old and disable to perform. Food was given in the smallest portions, and the old who knew they would die soon, would sacrifice and give their food to the younger men so that they could survive. Luckily for our guest, he became the shoemaker, so he got twice the serving he got before. Being the person he was, he would split his 2nd serving evenly between his friends and himself. Only in secret because this would have been severly punished if the guards would have known. That's about the time when he passed around the pictures, similar to the one's I've posted. These pictures on the web are shocking enough, but it kills your heart and turns your stomach when you know the person in the picture. If youve never experienced this, it's a entirely new feeling. From the moment that you hold the picture in your hand you cant even wrap your mind around what these people experienced. And our specific guest didnt leave this camp until he was 18 years old. At that time he had to renew his health. Imagine being in the health of someone in the picture, then having to come back to society and try your best to get your health back to everyone else. And spending your adolescent years in a concentration camp. Coming back home to your family whom you havent seen in what seems like forever and having to overcome tuberculosis. "One day in the camp, felt like a year", quoted from our guest. Imagine what 3 years would feel like. This was an eye opener to me, to what millions of people were subjected too. And he is a French man, not Jewish, but he suffered most of the same gruesome pain. "Never Forget but Never Hate", is what he left us with. Many died and many gave up. He survived because of his faith and determination. Which becomes my motivation. This man's story inspires me, and it is something that I will take with me for the rest of my life. When I go home I will tell my mother, and my grandparents, and later I will tell my children. http://www.qualityinformationpublishers.com/naziconcentrationcamppictures.aspx