STAMFORD, Conn. Anita Ron Schorr survived three different concentration camps from the age of 11 though 15 during the Holocaust. On Thursday night, she shared her story with more than 200 people gathered at Temple Sinai in Stamford to honor Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Schorr, a Westport resident, recalled being trained through starvation to stay in line to get to her next meal. She knew that if she stepped out of line, she would be punished, beaten or even shot and killed.
Everything was, if you dont do it, you would be shot, said Schorr, describing how she lived in constant fear.
Her nightmare ended when she was liberated from Bergen-Belsen on April 15, 1945. The rescuing British soldiers were shocked to see the cruel and torturous conditions in the Nazi concentration camps, she said.
We have to realize we have to stop being silent, Schorr said, talking to the childrens choir before extending her plea to the entire crowd. Please step in and be a hero. Dont let this happen again.
Though Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom HaShoah, is always honored, this years focus was on the youth, said Carl Rosen, an organizer of the event. He compared the Nazis actions during the Holocaust to bullies in todays society and said he wants children to step up against bullying.
The atrium of Temple Sinai was a perfect example of the organization's mission, Remembering is Not Enough. Photographs of Schorrs family, which were saved by a family friend, were on display with the concentration camp uniform of Noe Heitlinger. The items shared the room with youth projects for Yom HaShoah Remembrance Day as people took Take Action vows to ensure the Holocaust would not be repeated.
The remembrance ended as people took stones to place at the Yom HaShoah Memorial at the Stamford Jewish Community Center, a tradition that shows that someone has visited a grave and the deceased has not been forgotten.
The event was organized by the United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford, New Canaan and Darien.
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