Holocaust survivor shares her story

They stood for her. And they cheered-cheered and clapped as college students do for a comedian or local rock band, not the kind of ovation a visiting octogenarian might expect to receive and certainly not one here to talk about a book. Over a thousand staff, faculty, but mostly students comprised the standing-room-only crowd who listened to Gerda Weissmann Klein on Sept. 12 at the Center for the Fine and Performing Arts. Most had read her book All But My Life, an acclaimed Holocaust memoir. President Ray M. Keck III, who opened the event, explained the positive welcome Klein received by saying everyone in the room felt they knew her more intimately than they knew most of their friends. Klein then sat on a white couch situated on stage set against the backdrop of the fir and poplar pipes of the massive Sharkey Corrigan Organ. She was joined by Keck, Conchita Hickey, Vice President of Programs for Academic Support and Enrichment (PASE), which initiated Klein’s visit to TAMIU, and Beverly Herrera, President of Food for Thought, a non-profit foundation. The set up, which included the couch, two armchairs, and a coffee table over an ornate rug, suggested a panel discussion or interview. Yet, nobody on stage spoke except for the author, and she held over a thousand captivated with every syllable. “It is my gratitude to you, not yours to me, for giving me the opportunity of speaking with you today,” Klein told Keck as she began her talk. She thanked Laredo for welcoming her and her granddaughter over the past two days. She’d spoken at the Laredo Civic Center the night before-on Sept. 11. “This nation is mourning 9/11,” Klein said. “The kind of viciousness and pain of those attacks is one I remember well.” Her own feelings about 9/11 seem tied to her love of the United States, her adopted home. During her speech, Klein recounted the feeling of being rescued by not just an American serviceman, but an American Jew, a man who later became her husband. She also asked the audience to “be proud of being the country that liberated Europe.” She mentioned the tendency for a free people to take freedom for granted and compared it to oxygen, a natural commodity people enjoy every second until locked in a box and fighting for each breath. Freedom, Klein reminded the audience, is cherished most by those who’ve lived without it.”I still marvel at the more than half a century when I can say what I want to say, and the Gestapo will not come get me,” Klein said.Throughout her speech, Klein shared several stories from her book, and the vast majority of the audience members nodded or smiled or otherwise noted familiarity with her words, perhaps proving Klein right when she told the students in attendance, “You know my story.” Indeed much of what she said she meant directly for the students, whom she believes have the power to change the world.”As we’re sitting here, crimes against humanity are being permitted. You are the ones that are going to make an enormous difference. I know you will do it,” said Klein.The author later extolled the value of education and asked students to commit themselves to excellence in their chosen profession. “If you’re going to be a baker, bake the crustiest bread. If you’re going to be a doctor, heal not only the body, but also the soul. But I do hope that you will embrace the most noble profession of all: teaching.”After her speech, Klein took questions from members of the audience who approached a microphone set up at the edge of the stage. When asked by a young lady how she speaks about her enslavement to the Nazis with poise and dignity, Klein cited the power of language.”I cannot speak about it in the language in which it happened,” she said. She then recalled a journalist interviewing her in German (one of Klein’s three languages). A few minutes of speaking about her internment in the German tongue caused her to break down emotionally. Giving the event’s closing remarks, Hickey seemed visibly moved as she described the beautiful effect Klein’s visit and her book had on the university community. Students felt it as well. “I don’t think I’m ever going to forget this,” said Kristina Garza, a University Seminar (UNIV) student who read All But My Life as part of the new Reading the Globe initiative. Garza explained this was the first lecture by an author she’d ever attended, but she’ll probably attend more in the future.Kesia Rodriguez enjoyed the lecture particularly because of Klein’s eloquent speaking. When asked if she read the book, Rodriguez laughed and shyly admitted, “No, but I’m definitely going to read it after this.”Though not required to read the book for a class, Rodriquez serves as a mentor with the First Year Success Program, which along with the Writing Center and other student support providers, has encouraged all staff to read the book. Writing Center Associate Director Destine Holmgreen said, “We want to support [the initiative].” As part of the UNIV course, freshmen take a tour of the academic support departments including CASA (Center for the Advancement of Scholastic Achievement) and the Writing Center. Holmgreen said that during these tours, she found herself talking to freshman about the book and the personal impact it’s had on her.”Now, I’m reading about Rwanda. I’m reading about Darfur. There’s so much (expletive) that we get from our media, and you have to really seek out good information and good books like this one [Klein’s] to get a perspective on the world around us,” said Holmgreen.The Writing Center posted notable quotes from the book on a bulleting board visible to students as they walk in. Holmgreen is also encouraging writing tutors to read the book during working hours when they’re not helping students. She said tutors find themselves engrossed in the memoir, and she commented on the power of the book and the value of the reading program for TAMIU. “I went outside one day and saw students on every bench reading. I have never seen that in fourteen years in Laredo,” Holmgreen noted.Indeed many at TAMIU feel touched by Klein, and it is likely many students will remember her message of hope and motivation.”I wanted to be a writer, but I had no education past age fifteen,” said Klein. “My friends, it can be done.”