Middletown High School students were honored on Oct. 2 to hear the experiences of Holocaust survivor Ninette Feldman. Feldman, who spoke to a group of about 30 freshman, was asked by MHS English teacher Melissa Bolt to talk to the students; she graciously agreed to come and speak.

Bolt’s students recently read the book “Night” by Elie Wiesel, a compelling story of a young boy’s horrific experiences in Nazi Concentration Camps. Bolt wanted to have a survivor come in because “it brings an actual face to the Holocaust,” she said. “[The students] read the book and watched video clips, but I wanted someone who had seen this in the flesh to create a lasting image.”

Feldman, who survived the Holocaust in Greece, began her presentation by saying, “this is not easy to talk about, yet it is very important to do.” She continued to share her story by giving the students a brief history lesson about Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Europe, and by sharing her personal experiences.

Feldman was born in Agrinion Greece, where she lived with her father, mother, and older brother. She was three-years-old when the Holocaust began.

In 1933, when Hitler came to power, 78,000 Jewish people lived in Greece. In 1943, when the war in Greece ended, only 10,000 Jewish people remained.

Feldman describes herself as “one of the few Greek children who survived.” Although she is grateful she survived, she now has “the unfortunate task to talk about those who did not.”

Feldman described her experiences in-depth, detailing how she and her family survived during a year of seclusion. They alternated between staying in a small village of 300 people and hiding in the mountains during the German raids. They had no electricity or running water, and often had to find shelter in a deep cave. During those times, they survived off dandelions and mountain plants.

“I still remember how frightened I was in that dark cave,” Feldman said. “I have always had a very vivid recollection of that event [even though I was so young].”

She also recalled a particularly terrifying memory in which she and her family were almost discovered. Members of the German opposition had taken in the Feldman family while they were on the run. She and her mother were in the house when “a German soldier burst through the door.” Her mother instinctively hid Feldman and acted as though it was her home. Although they managed to escape, Feldman describes this as the moment when she realized “we were in extreme danger.”

While Feldman and her immediate family fled to the mountains to survive, the rest of her family was not as fortunate. The spring after she and her family fled, her mother went into the city to get food. Despite the presence of German troops, her children needed food badly and she was willing to risk it.

During this trip, Feldman’s mother learned that their entire family, along with every other Jewish family in the city, had been arrested and were being held in a tobacco warehouse.

“Our worst nightmare had become reality,” she said.

At the end of the war, when Feldman returned to the city, she learned that her whole family, except one uncle and three cousins, had been murdered by the Nazis.

As she described the many family members who were lost during the Holocaust, she displayed pictures of them on an overhead.

Feldman became particularly emotional when a picture of her cousin was displayed on the screen.

“She was the same age as me [when the war started],” Feldman said. “She died and I lived.”

Feldman finished her presentation by advising students to “be aware of things going on in the world.”

“All nations are interconnected,” she said. “We must respect every one’s beliefs and traditions.”

Bolt felt that her students responded very well to Feldman’s story. The Holocaust survivors who are still living are reaching older ages; there will come a day when there won’t be anymore survivors.

“I think the students realized that not all generations will get to meet a survivor, so being able to hear one’s story was very significant,” Bolt said.

When asked how the Holocaust has affected her views of the world, Feldman said “I’m very conscious of other people around the world because of what happened to me.” She has become in tuned to the plight of others, particularly in Georgia and Darfur. She urged students to realize that genocide is still happening today and it is up to this generation to stop it, because “ignorance is the first step to destruction.”

“Human life is precious,” she said.