♪♪ >> THE FOLLOWING PRESENTATION WAS TAPED BEFORE A LIVE AUDIENCE AS PART OF SPARK, KLRU'S ENGAGING SPEAKER SERIES.

>> I SIT IN FRONT OF THE IMAGE OF AUSTIN.

IT IS THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY WHERE I COME FROM, AND IT IS MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF MILES AWAY FROM THE PLACE I WILL TRY TO EVOKE FOR YOU WITH SOME MIRACLE OF INCREDIBLE LUCK, OF ALMOST MAGIC, I FIND MYSELF IN THIS SPOT.

AS THEY KINDLY MENTIONED, I WAS 15 YEARS OLD AND A PRETTY UNSOPHISTICATED AND SPOILED LITTLE 15-YEAR-OLD, BEING THE YOUNGEST AND ONLY GIRL IN THE FAMILY.

WHEN THE WORLD I KNEW AND LOVED AND WAS A PART OF WAS IRREVOCABLELY DESTROYED AS IF A TSUNAMI IN THOSE DAYS, A WAVE OF HATRED THROWS OVER EUROPE AND SWEPT AWAY EVERYTHING I KNEW AND LOVED.

MY BELOVED PARENTS, MY ONLY BROTHER, MY UNCLES, MY AUNTS, MY COUSINS, MY FRIENDS, MY CHILDHOOD HOME WAS TAKEN AWAY AND I WAS SET ADRIFT INTO THE SANDS OF UNCERTAINTY WITH NO ONE I KNEW OR LOVED EXCEPT ONE CHILDHOOD FRIEND.

SHE AND I FOUND OURSELVES ALONE, SOLD ON THE SLAVE MARKETS OF GERMANY INTO A SUCCESSION OF SLAVE LABOR IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS, AND BECAME SISTERS TO EACH OTHER.

I KNOW THAT WHEN YOU HEAR THE WORD CONCENTRATION CAMP, THERE IS A MOMENTARY CHILL, A FEELING OF FEAR, A SOURCE OF SORROW WHICH CONVEYS THOSE WORDS, AND RIGHTFULLY SO.

BUT FOR SOME REASON BECAUSE FOR A PIECE OF MY MIND TO BE ILLUMINATED, TO BE IN THE CAMP AND THERE IS A DIFFERENCE AS WELL, AND THAT IS THE LOVE, THE FRIENDSHIP, THE SHARING AND THE CARING WHICH EXISTED, WHICH GAVE ONE HOPE FOR THE ULTIMATE GOODNESS OF HUMANITY.

AND THOSE WHO PARISHED THERE LEFT NO CHILDREN BEHIND.

YOU ARE THE SPIRITUAL HERS AND YOU MUST KNOW OF THE GOODNESS OF THE LEGACY THAT WAS LEFT TO YOU.

A LEGACY WHICH PERHAPS TODAY, WHICH UNFORTUNATELY IN SO MANY PARTS OF OUR WORLD, THERE IS STILL SO MUCH DISCRIMINATION, SO MUCH HATRED, SO MUCH ARROGANCE THAT WE SHOULD UNDERSTAND, THAT OUR LOVE AND OUR CARING AND OUR REACHING OUT AS A COMFORT AND A HOPE WHICH KEPT US ALIVE IN THOSE DARK AND MISERABLE HOURS.

ONE DAY ON THE WAY TO THE FACTORY IN WHICH WE WORKED, SHE FOUND A RASPBERRY.

SHE CARRIED THAT TREASURE IN HER POCKET ALL DAY LONG TO PRESENT IT TO ME THAT NIGHT ON A LEAF WHICH SHE PLUCKED THROUGH THE BARBED WIRE.

CAN YOU CONCEIVE A WORLD IN WHICH ONE SLIGHTLY BRUISED, DUST-COVERED RASPBERRY BECOMES YOUR ENTIRE POSSESSION AND TO PRESENT THIS TREASURE TO A FRIEND?

TRAGICALLY SHE NEVER TASTED ANOTHER RASPBERRY AGAIN.

SHE DIED IN MY ARMS ON A WET MEADOW IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA ON THE DEATH MARCH.

SHE WAS 18 YEARS OLD.

LET ME EXPLAIN.

THE AMERICANS, BRITISH AND RUSSIAN FORCES WERE CRUSHING GERMANY TO AN ULTIMATE DEFEAT AND THERE IS STILL PEOPLE AS WE WERE IN THE CAMPS, AND OF COURSE THEY DIDN'T WANT US TO SURVIVE AS WITNESSES.

CONSEQUENTLY OUR ORDERS WERE TO BE SHIPPED TO A MURDER CAMP NEAR BERLIN SUCH AS AUSCHWITZ WAS IN POLAND.

BLESSEDLY IT FELL INTO THE HANDS OF THE ALLIES AND WE STARTED A MARCH KNOWN IN THE HISTORY BOOKS AS A DEATH MARCH.

WE STARTED ON THE 29TH OF JANUARY, 1945, AND WERE LIBERATED BY AMERICAN FORCES THREE AND A HALF MONTHS LATER ON MAY 7TH.

ON THE 29TH OF JANUARY MY FRIEND DIED IN MY ARMS.

IN THE LAST HOUR OF HER YOUNG AND FRUITLESS LIFE, SHE REVEALED THAT SHE WAS ANGRY AT NO ONE AND HOPED THAT NO ONE WAS ANGRY AT HER.

AND SHE ASKED ME IF HER PARENTS SURVIVED AND HER SISTER, NOT TO TELL THEM HOW SHE DIED.

SHE DIDN'T SURVIVE.

AND LASTLY, SHE ASKED ME TO PROMISE HER TO GO ON FOR ONE MORE WEEK.

A WEEK LATER EXACTLY TO THE DAY, PERHAPS TO THE VERY HOUR OF HER DEATH, WE WERE LIBERATED BY AMERICAN FORCES.

I'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU THE STORY OF LIBERATION, WHICH FOR ME HAS PARTICULAR SIGNIFICANCE TONIGHT, AND I'M QUITE SURE YOU WILL SOON UNDERSTAND WHY.

WE HEARD AMERICAN PLANES OVERHEAD.

THE SHOOTING OF AMERICAN ARTILLERY CLOSE BY.

WE ALSO KNEW WITH EQUAL CERTAINTY THAT WE ARE NOT GOING TO KNOW THE JOY OF FREEDOM BECAUSE OUR CAPTORS DECIDED TO LOCK US IN AN ABANDONED BICYCLE FACTORY AND ATTACH A TIME BOMB.

I'M FULLY AWARE IT SOUNDS LIKE A CHEAP THRILLER.

AND REMEMBER THAT NIGHT.

I REMEMBER OUR HOPES AND OUR PRAYERS.

WE HAD COME SO FAR FOR SO LONG, AND ARE WE NOT GOING TO KNOW THE JOY OF FREEDOM?

AND SUDDENLY, ALMOST MAGICALLY IT STARTED TO RAIN.

THE TORRENTIAL RAINS THAT COME IN THE SPRING, THE RAIN WHICH RESULTED IN MUD, PREVENTING THE BOMB FROM CONNECTING AND OBVIOUSLY IT NEVER WENT OFF.

THE DOORS WERE THRUST OPEN AND WE HEARD CALLS OF IF ANYONE IS HERE, GET OUT.

THE WAR IN EUROPE WAS OVER.

WHAT DO YOU FEEL IN SUCH A MOMENT?

A MOMENT YOU HAVE DREAMT ABOUT FOR SIX INCREDIBLE YEARS.

I FELT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

I FELT AS IF ONE'S BEING MUST EMPTY ITSELF FOR EVERY EMOTION TO MAKE ROOM FOR A RUSH OF INCREDIBLE JOY WHICH ONE BEING COULD NOT CONTAIN.

I EXPERIENCED THAT.

AS I STOOD IN THE DOORWAY OF THE FACTORY AND SAW IN A CLOSE BY HILL A STRANGE LOOKING CAR COMING DOWN.

ITS COLORS NO LONGER GREEN, THANK GOD, AND ITS HOT WITHOUT A SOMEWHAT STICK DA, BUT A WHITE STAR THE OF AMERICAN ARMY.

TWO MEN IN UNIFORMS SAT IN THE VEHICLE.

ONE JUMPED OUT, CAME RUNNING TOWARDS ME I LOOKED AT THIS MAN WHO GRANTED ME FREEDOM WITH AWE, WITH DISBELIEF, BUT FULLY AWARE THAT I MUST IDENTIFY WHO WE WERE.

SO I SAID TO HIM IN A SMALL AND TIMID VOICE, WE ARE JEWISH, YOU KNOW.

FOR A LONG TIME HE DIDN'T ANSWER.

AND FINALLY HIS OWN VOICE BETRAYED HIS EMOTION AS HE SAID, SO AM I.

AND THEN HE ASKED AN INCREDIBLE QUESTION.

HE ASKED IF HE COULD SEE THE OTHER LADIES, A FORM OF ADDRESS UNKNOWN TO US.

I TOLD HIM THAT MOST OF THE GIRLS WERE INSIDE, WERE TOO ILL TO WALK.

YOU SEE, I WAS BLESSED WITH SUEDE SKIING BOOTS.

IN THE LAST HOUR OF MY DEPARTING MY BELOVED FAMILY IN JUNE OF 1942, MY FATHER SUDDENLY ASKED ME, WHERE ARE YOUR SKIING BOOTS?

WE WERE ALL AVID SKIERS AND THEY WERE NOT THE TYPE OF SKIING BOOTS OF TODAY.

THEY WERE SIMPLY A DEER SKIN BOOT.

AND I SAID WHY?

AND MY FATHER SAID, I WANT YOU TO WEAR THEM.

AND YOU DID NOT ARGUE WITH YOUR FATHER.

AND I WORE THOSE BOOTS FOR THREE YEARS, AND I'M QUITE SURE THAT THEY WERE VERY IMPORTANT TO SAVE MY LIFE.

AND IN THEM ALSO I CARRIED SOME PICTURES OF MY BELOVED PARENTS AND MY BROTHER.

SO HERE, STANDING IN MY SKIING BOOTS IN THE DOORWAY OF THE VOLARY FACTORY, I LOOKED AT MY LIBERATOR AS HE HELD THE DOOR OPEN FOR ME AND LET ME PRECEDE HIM.

I SHOULD LIKE TO GIVE YOU A PICTURE OF THAT MOMENT.

I WEIGHED 68-POUNDS.

MY HAIR WAS WHITE.

I WAS IN RAGS.

I HAD NOT HAD A BATH IN THREE YEARS.

AND I WAS GOING TO BE 21 THE FOLLOWING DAY.

AND HERE WAS THIS INCREDIBLY HANDSOME YOUNG AMERICAN OFFICER HOLDING THE DOOR OPEN FOR ME.

BY WHAT MIRACLE COULD I HAVE CONCEIVED THE THOUGHT THAT I'LL MARRY HIM A YEAR LATER.

AND HE WILL BRING ME HOME TO THIS BELOVED COUNTRY WHICH I SO PROUDLY CALL MY OWN.

I LOVE THIS COUNTRY.

I LOVE IT WITH A LOVE THAT ONLY ONE WHO HAS BEEN HOMELESS FOR AS LONG AS I HAVE BEEN CAN UNDERSTAND.

MY DEAR FRIENDS, I HAD DREAMS WHICH FOR YOU WOULD BE SIMPLE DREAMS.

TO MARRY THE MAN I ADORE.

TO LIVE IN A SIMPLE HOUSE IN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY IN THE WORLD, BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

[ LAUGHTER ] TO HAVE CHILDREN.

TO BECOME A WRITER, EVEN THOUGH ENGLISH IS MY THIRD LANGUAGE.

SO IT'S A SIMPLE LIFE.

FATE, GOOD LUCK AND INCREDIBLE BLESSINGS HAVE GIVEN ME SOMETHING I COULD HAVE NEVER DREAMT.

JOY, SACRED MOMENTS WHEN MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN WERE BORN.

A SACRED MOMENT WHEN I WAS GIVEN MY AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP AND TOLD, FROM NOW ON IF YOU HAVE ANY TROUBLE, ANYPLACE IN THE WORLD, YOU GO TO THE AMERICAN EMBASSY.

TO ME HAVING LIVED IN A GOVERNMENT WHICH WAS BENT ON MY DESTRUCTION, TO KNOW THAT NOW I HAVE FOUND A HOME, AN INCREDIBLE HOME, IT IS MY SACRED DUTY AND OBLIGATION TO SPEAK TO OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, TO MAKE THEM AWARE WHAT AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP MEANS TO US ALL.

I HAVE LEARNED MANY THINGS IN MY LIFE, MY DEAR FRIENDS, AND ONE THAT I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU IS NEVER, EVER GIVE UP.

THE DARK OF THE NIGHT, THE BRIGHT OF THE DAWN, AND WHEN IT GETS REALLY, REALLY DARK, THIS IS WHEN ONE SEES THE TRUE BRILLIANCE OF THE STARS.

MY GRANDDAUGHTER JULIE, WHO BROUGHT ME UP HERE, ON THE WAY HERE SHARED WITH ME SOME OF THE STORIES THAT SHE PARTICULARLY LOVED, THE SIDESMAKING PANCAKES IN THE MORNING.

SHE ASKED ME TO TELL YOU, AND I'M USUALLY BEING ASKED WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE FOR YOU, A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR, STANDING IN LOS ANGELES AND HOLDING AN AS COT IN YOUR HAND?

IT WAS VERY NICE.

[ LAUGHTER ] BUT AS I HAVE MENTIONED, IT HAS NOT BEEN A SACRED MOMENT IN MY LIFE.

IT WAS A MOMENT OF REFLECTION AND I CAN TELL YOU EXACTLY WHERE MY THOUGHTS WERE.

AS I STOOD THERE ALL DRESSED UP LOOKING AT AN AUDIENCE, AS I'M LOOKING AT YOU, COMPRISED OF THE MOST FAMOUS PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, MY THOUGHTS WERE FAR AWAY.

MY THOUGHTS WERE ON THE DEATH MARCH.

I RECALL HOW I STOOD IN A SEEMINGLY NEVER ENDING LINE, HOLDING A BATTERED BOWL IN MY HAND.

I REMEMBER HOW HUNGRY I WAS, HOW COLD AND HOW LONELY.

AND HOW I PRAYED WITH ALL MY HEART THAT WHEN I GOT TO THE START OF THE LINE, THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH FOOD LEFT IN THE KETTLE.

AND IF BY SOME MIRACLE THE LADLE WENT DEEPER AND BROUGHT FORTH A POTATO, I WAS A WINNER.

I DO NOT WISH TO LISTEN TO -- TO LIVE IN A WORLD IN WHICH A POTATO IS MORE VALUABLE THAN AN OSCAR, BUT I DO NOT WANT TO LIVE IN A WORLD IN WHICH AN OSCAR IS SO IMPORTANT THAT WE FORGET THAT SOME PEOPLE STILL DO NOT HAVE A POTATO.

MY DEAR FRIENDS, TONIGHT AS WE ARE GOING TO GO TO BED, 35 MILLION AMERICANS ARE GOING TO BED HUNGRY.

35 MILLION.

MILLIONS AROUND THE WORLD.

THIS CANNOT BE AND SHOULD NOT BE, AND I HAVE THE PLEASURE AND THE PRIVILEGE OF WORKING WITH THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF OUR COUNTRY, AND I HAVE GREAT FAITH IN WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO DO.

THEY ARE THE MESSENGERS TO A TIME I SHALL NOT SEE, AND I HAVE EVERY CONFIDENCE THAT THIS LAND IS GOING TO BE WHAT IT WAS STARTED TO BE, A STAR AMONGST THE COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD, WITH A CONSTITUTION WHICH GUARANTEES THIS FREEDOM FOR WHICH I SO DEEPLY PRAY.

I HAVE HAD THE INCREDIBLE PRIVILEGE OF ADDRESSING THE UNITED NATIONS ON 61st ANNIVERSARY HALLOW CAST, WHEN THEY FINALLY DECIDED TO ADMIT THERE WAS A HOLOCAUST.

WHO AM I TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF MILLIONS?

NOT JUST JEWS, SIX MILLIONS JEWS KILLED IN THE HOLOCAUST, BUT MILLIONS AND MILLIONS WHO ARE STILL DYING IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM AND EQUALITY?

THROUGH A STRANGE THING WITH DATES IT COINCIDED WITH THE DAY ON WHICH WE STARTED THE DEATH MARCH, AND MY THOUGHTS WENT BACK TO THIS HORRID DAY AND THE ENDLESS LINES OF 4,000 PEOPLE THAT STARTED IN THE BITTER SNOW AND WIND.

WITH THE WHIPS ABOVE US CALLING FORWARD, MARCH, AND SNOW WAS FALLING.

EXQUISITE FLAKES OF SNOW, UNIQUE IN THEIR DESIGN OF STARS, FALLING DOWN TO EARTH AND BECOMING MUD.

AND GONE.

WHY DID ONE SNOWFLAKE LAND ON ME?

I AM NO BETTER.

WHY HAVE I BEEN GIVEN THIS INCREDIBLE PRIVILEGE TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THOSE OTHERS?

AND AS I STOOD AT THE UNITED NATIONS, I COULD NOT SPEAK.

I JUST BROUGHT FORTH THE PICTURE OF THE DEATH MARCH.

AND I STOOD AND I BEGGED, I BEGGED.

I REMEMBER WHEN THAT INSTITUTION WAS STARTED.

I REMEMBERED THE LATE MRS. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT HOLDING THE CHARTER OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN HER HANDS, AND WE SAID THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER WAR.

AND I BEGGED.

I SAID, THIS PLACE THAT WAS BUILT FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND FREEDOM OF HUMAN RIGHTS SHOULD BECOME THE SANCTUARY IN WHICH IT FINALLY IS GOING TO BE IMPLEMENTED SO THAT EVERY CHILD IN EVERY LAND OF EVERY COLOR, OF EVERY RELIGION, WILL BE ABLE TO DREAM THE DREAMS OF FREEDOM.

I'M AN OPTIMIST.

I WOULDN'T BE HERE IF I WAS NOT.

I STILL BELIEVE IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN.

DEAR FRIENDS, I WAS HARKING BACK THIS MORNING, LOOKING AT THE FIRST BOOK I HAVE WRITTEN 55 YEARS AGO CALLED ALL BUT MY LIFE.

WHICH IN A WAY THEY DID, THEY TOOK ALL BUT MY LIFE, BUT THEY DIDN'T TAKE MY LOVE, NOR MY HOPES, NOR MY DREAMS.

AND THIS IS WHAT I HAD WRITTEN.

I LOOKED AT IT THIS MORNING.

AS I FINISHED THE LAST CHAPTER OF MY BOOK, I FEEL AT PEACE AT LAST.

I HAVE DISCHARGED A BURDEN AND PAID A DEBT TO MANY NAMELESS HEROS RESTING IN THE UNMARKED GRAVES, FOR I AM HAUNTED BY THE THOUGHT THAT I MIGHT BE THE ONLY ONE LEFT TO TELL THE STORY.

HAPPY IN MY NEW LIFE, I HAVE PAID THE LAST SENTENCE OF MY PAST.

I HAVE WRITTEN MY STORY WITH TEARS AND WITH LOVE, AND IN THE HOPE THAT MY CHILDREN, SAFELY ASLEEP IN THEIR CRIBS, SHOULD NOT AWAKEN FROM A NIGHTMARE AND FIND IT TO BE REALITY.

I WROTE THOSE WORDS 55 YEARS AGO.

ABOUT FOUR HOURS AGO I STOOD AT THE CRIBS OF TWO OF MY LITTLE GREAT-GRANDSONS, LITTLE TEXAN BOYS, WITH THE SAME PRAYER IN MY HEART, MAY THEY NEVER AWAKEN FROM A NIGHTMARE AND FIND IT TO BE A REALITY.

AND SO THE LONG JOURNEY OF MY LIFE AND ALL THAT I HAVE SEEN, AND WITH YOUR HELP AND YOUR CARING, I KNOW THEY NEVER WILL.

FOR ME THE THOUGHT THAT I WILL HAVE TWO GREAT-GRANDSONS, TALL TEXANS WITH TEXAN HATS, HOWDY MA'AM, HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO ME?

AND I AM CONVINCED BECAUSE OF THE LOVE AND THE CARING AND WHAT OUR COUNTRY STANDS FOR, STORIES SUCH AS MINE WILL NOT BE WRITTEN AGAIN AS OUGHT BIOGRAPHY.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU.

MY GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

[ APPLAUSE ] >> IF MORE INFORMATION ON GERDA WEISSMANN KLEIN AND HER INFORMATION, WHICH PROMOTES CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN TODAY'S YOUTH, CITIZEN CITIZENSHIPCOUNTS.ORG.

♪♪