Truth is, I love reading about genocides. I believe you can learn so much about life though these stories. I recently went to Washington D.C. and went to the Holocaust Museum. It was there where I got to meet Elly Gross. Listening to her talk was so beautiful. I ended up buy two of her books ,and WOW! The things she has been through. She not only is a survivor of the holocaust, but she was only living in New York when 9/11 the twin towers went down! Her story not only opened my eyes to how victims of the holocaust felt, but how much I don’t appreciate the life I have as much as I should. Truth is, I love reading about genocides. I believe you can learn so much about life through these stories. I recently went to Washington, D.C., and went to the Holocaust Museum. It was there where I got to meet Elly Gross. Listening to her talk was so beautiful. I ended up buying two of her books, and WOW! The things she has been through. She not only is a survivor of the Holocaust, but she was only living in New York when 9/11 the twin towers went down! Her story not only opened my eyes to how victims of the Holocaust felt, but how much I don’t appreciate the life I have as much as I should. Truth is, I love reading about genocides. I believe you can learn so much about life though these stories. I recently went to Washington D.C. and went to the Holocaust Museum. It was there where I got to meet Elly Gross. Listening to her talk was so beautiful. I ended up buy two of her books ,and WOW! The things she has been through. She not only is a survivor of the holocaust, but she was only living in New York when 9/11 the twin towers went down! Her story not only opened my eyes to how victims of the holocaust felt, but how much I don’t appreciate the life I have as much as I should.
Like every family, my family fights a lot. Most people never think about losing all of your family, or having to find yourself a home and make money at the age of 15. Elly Gross blamed her self for her mother’s death. She even saw a picture of them from right before the died. How crazy?? I can’t even imagine how must of felt. But people today, like Elly, this is real. Genocides are still happening and kids are left with one to one take care of themselves. I don’t want this to be a political post, but I can’t help but think about America today when I read these stories and I’m just in awe of how we just throw around the word “concentration camp”. It’s such an ugly word. The “camps” that people who cross may not be the best, but they certainly are nothing compared to the camps in Cambodia, Germany, Poland, or how people in Rwanda are and were treated. The government does not want to these people to die, its about sustainability of the country.
Another thing that memoirs like this opens up my eyes to is just how strong we as people can be. I’m sure you, like me, often complain about dumb little things, like our coffee isn’t right, how we feel left out, being hungry, our phones dying, or someone just being rude. Then I read and think about what people have gone through, and what people are going through, and I just think “wow, I have all these things and complaining while others are literally struggling to see another second of the day.” Like whoa, we have clean streets, can do and say pretty much whatever we want, the freedom to walk and go places, while today, thousands of people will because of their religion, ethnic background, or for even owning a book. The people who have survived this, and are still fighting are probably some of the strongest people in the world, and if they can fight through this, then we can certainly deal with a dead phone or a coffee made wrong.
Memoirs like this just make me take a step back and look at my life and how good it honestly is. I know there are Americans that do struggle every day, and I don’t want to discredit them. But I do think it’s essential to remember that no matter how bad life gets, it’s important to know that someone else had it worse. I highly suggest that you pick up at least one memoir from someone who has survived genocide and see what they have to offer you.
