March Of The Living: A Survivor's Mission
AUSCHWITZ, POLAND (CBS4) - What is the Holocaust? It's a simple sentence that's not very easy to answer. But it's one three South Florida Holocaust survivors are trying to explain it to teenagers in hopes of keeping their legacy alive, long after their lives end. It's their life's work.
Survivor David Schaecter told CBS4 News that during the Holocaust, "We all had one thing in common. That was death." Schaecter, and survivors David Mermelstein and Joe Sachs have turned that common bond into something much greater. They make it their life's work to make sure they educate the next generations so the world never forgets the atrocities of the Holocaust.
Six million Jews killed. One and a half million of them children.
For that reason, they traveled back to Auschwitz in Poland to tell their stories of horror in a place known for its horrific treatment and murder of Jews.
Survivor David Mermelstein said "You just can't forget it. You cannot forget it. This is my seventh trip here and it doesn't get easier." The trip back here is a difficult one, but they continue to do it, as long as their bodies allow them to.
"I want to feel that I left a legacy. I want to feel that I reached a lot of children," David Schaecter told us during the trip.
Survivor Joe Sachs, agreed whole-heartedly. "If we can educate the younger generations to reduce the amount of hatred and prejudice maybe one day there will be a better world and that's what drives me."
Join CBS4 News for a special presentation: March of the Living, Return to Auschwitz Sunday, May 20th at 6:30 p.m.
