Holocaust Survivor
To be a survivor of the Holocaust is a big deal, to say the least. With the genocide of over 6 million Jews and more than 11 million in total, this is one of the biggest cases of genocide in 20th century history, and perhaps in the entire history of the world. There are people, however, that managed to make it out of the Holocaust alive. Whether they did so through hiding out, fleeing, or simply avoiding death in the concentration camps, there were people who lived to tell the tale of the Nazi reign over Germany from their perspective.
Historical facts can tell us a lot about this time in history, but nothing is as educational or insightful as stories from survivors themselves. It is believed that there are survivors who never came forward and who still live in secret, but there are also many who have spoken up to share their story, speak their truth, and educate the world on the horror that took place for 12 years while Hitler ruled over Germany. Survivors are from all walks of life, including many Jews and other religious people, as well as various races and creeds of people who were persecuted or sought out for their 'inferiority' by Hitler and his men.
Many of the Holocaust survivors paint a tale of desperate times and desolate conditions, when they were treated more like cattle than humans and discarded from society like yesterday's trash. They experienced the torture and terror that the Nazis imposed on Germany and other areas of Europe that they took over, and they lived to tell about it.
Otto Frank, the infamous father of Anne Frank, the young girl who penned a diary during the Holocaust, lived until 1980 in Germany. He managed to escape the concentration camps and was the only survivor from this family. After the war, it was his efforts that pushed his daughter's diary into publication. Today, Anne Frank's diary is available in many formats and has been translated into dozens of languages. Viktor Frankl was another survivor, who became famous as an author and psychoanalyst after World War II. He died in 1997 from heart failure in Vienna.
There are some survivors that still live today, most of whom were children at the time of the Holocaust. They have told their stories, for the most part, and shared with the world what they have been through. For those who went through this experience, reliving it by coming out as a survivor is a challenging, yet brave, choice.