Johanna Fleischman of Casa Grande High School

By JOHANNA FLEISCHMAN

CASA GRANDE HIGH SCHOOL, Junior

My ears tingled with the echo of my father’s words, replaying the awe of the astonishing story. This moment, only a year or two ago, was when a part of my recent ancestry was revealed to me. Not that it had been meant to be hidden from my view, but for some reason I had never heard this piece of the family’s story before.
Yes, my grandmother had been a fortunate survivor of the Holocaust; yes, numerous relations of mine had been unjustly killed, but I couldn’t feel the intensity of the pain they endured. It was my duty to feel sympathy for them, yet because I had never felt their fear, their pain, I didn’t know how to conjure genuine empathy.
Ervin Wotiz, my great-great uncle, had taken passage aboard a ship in his efforts to free himself from the corrupted and dangerous World War II Europe. After the Jews on board realized that a safe landing was not available to them, Ervin committed suicide on ship; he did this not to free himself of his unendurable suffering but to convey to the authorities the agony his people were living through.
It worked: The Dutch queen allowed the ship to land on the island of Curacao. The death of one man protected the lives of many.
The strength of my father’s words sunk through the pores of my skin. Ervin’s case was not the first I’d heard of one of my relatives committing suicide, yet the intention behind his exploit was so different.
As a man with no country, possessing a life lost through war and willing to sacrifice his life for the hearts of many, he did what I thought no one in our family was heroic enough to undertake.
The effects of the Holocaust always have been a part of my life: My father’s mother survived as an escapee to America; a distant aunt of mine published a book detailing her experiences undergoing harsh concentration camps; my great-grandmother and my great-aunt escaped from Austria, fleeing safely to the United States, thanks to the sponsorship of my grandfather’s family.
Unfortunately, my grandmother passed before my birth, and although personal interest in the Holocaust has sparked within me, my great-aunt’s mind has since clouded, and I have been unable to hear her story firsthand.
My extended family is truly blessed to have left Europe without incident, although many relatives did die. We must be thankful for those who survived, rather than lament over the numbers who perished.
Massive and horrific events in history change, create and destroy the existences of vast numbers of people in our world. The event in history that has affected me more than any other is that of the Holocaust. The famous have been murdered, the Twin Towers have been attacked and poverty has reigned in other countries, but in truth, none of these wicked events has affected me in the way that Hitler’s inequality and selfish deeds did to my family and myself.
Ervin’s suicide, my relatives’ experiences and shocking global events have made it clear to me that there is hardship for everyone in the world. However, he also showed me that we are strong enough to provide happiness to anyone, even if that entails sacrificing all we possess.