Holocaust Survivor Hannah Holsten Shares Her Story on the Harvey School Campus
In collaboration with the school's Jewish Culture Club, the Harvey English and History departments organized the event to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day. English and History Department Heads Virginia Holmes and Jessica Falcon partnered with the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center to select a speaker. From the Center, Executive Director Millie Jasper and Speakers Bureau Liaison Bette Sparago connected them to Holsten, who lived a normal life in Nuremberg, Germany until 1938—when the night of Kristallnacht shattered it all.
On the night of Kristallnacht, Holsten shared that the Nazis destroyed all of her family's personal belongings and jewelry store.
This was the beginning of the world's descent into unspeakable horror—one that millions would not survive.
According to Holsten, what followed was a period of displacement and almost impossible choices that defined her years in the shadows. At the Harvey School, Holsten gave her testimony, stating that she felt an obligation to speak. 'I'm here,' her voice quivered. 'Six million of my brethren are not.'
Teacher Nate Alexander and student Benji Cutler recorded her testimony, preserving it as a record presented to the entire Upper School Community on Feb. 11. Observing nearly every student in the room captivated by the gravity of Holsten's words, Department Head Ms. Holmes explained: 'Not only is the content in her story so powerful, but she herself was such a dynamic speaker that the Harvey community was listening to every word she had to say.'
Among many of Holsten's reminders was that while it is easy to reimagine history's greatest atrocity as the work of a single individual, it is crucial to remember that Adolf Hitler was legally elected. In other words, he didn't seize power by surprise—he was chosen. Holsten detailed the systemic laws that slowly eroded the rights of the Jewish people until they were no longer humans but problems to be solved.
Yet what allowed Hitler to finally claim absolute power, in Holsten's words, was silence. 'Whatever he did, it was in silence,' she reminded the audience. 'No one at all spoke up.'
As Holsten shared her story with the Harvey School, she recounted the moments when fate blurred the line between her family's tactics and sheer luck on their route toward survival.
After Kristallnacht, Holsten recounts her mother putting her and her brother on a train to Amsterdam. Though they were not allowed to disembark there—this attempt to escape having failed—Holsten's Dutch aunt joined the train and convinced the children to exchange their toys for new ones.
Holsten revealed that her mother had hidden jewels inside the toys, hoping that the family could use the jewels to potentially bargain for their survival. The toys fulfilled this wish, and Holsten's father eventually used the jewels to hire new smugglers to begin their escape.
Holsten said that the terror of being nearly caught haunted her and her family at every step. Survival during the Holocaust meant being subject to forces beyond one's control, Holsten explained. Transported by new smugglers to escape, her family was hidden in the disguised bottom of a hay wagon. 'We rolled along the countryside—and of course, we were stopped,' Holsten said.
What followed was a life-saving twist of fate. According to Holsten, 'The Nazi officers took their pitchforks and put them in the hay. Who was looking after us? Maybe it was God. Maybe it was destiny. Maybe it was luck. They did not penetrate us. They were so high that what they hit was really hay—and not us.'
When the smuggler transporting them could go no further, Holsten remembers him directing the family toward a bridge—their only path into Belgium and safety. But when they arrived, a troop of German soldiers with bayonets lined the bridge.
According to Holsten, another miracle of chance saved her and her family. By sheer luck, the soldiers turned around and allowed them to cross the bridge. 'Was it empathy? Was it [that] they saw a young woman with three children, and they [decided not to] kill them?' Holsten asked the students at the Harvey School—chills permeating the room.
Once in Belgium, Holsten recalls her father using their family's remaining money to reach Britain. After a year enduring blitzkriegs there, Holsten's family left for the United States.
But Holsten makes clear that they were among the fortunate. Millions—including many of Holsten's relatives—never made it out.
Holsten shares that at an age when most children learned nursery rhymes and games, she had endured the art of survival. Eventually, her family was granted entry into the United Kingdom—where she lived in Cardiff before making her way by boat to the United States.
Holsten described her current life, explaining that she now lives in Hartsdale as the bearer of her family's legacy— a legacy that defied Hitler's attempts to erase the Jewish people. She has three children, ten grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, and enjoyed a long career in Jewish education, retiring a decade ago.
At the end of her story, Holsten recounted a final memory that left students shocked. Her aunt, who had hid in Holland, was betrayed and deported to Auschwitz. Her aunt had a son— a 4-year-old of whom she made the difficult choice to give away to strangers to give her son a chance of survival.
These acts of sacrifice defined the Holocaust. Holsten's aunt knew she would not survive— but her son had a chance.
Later, Holsten revealed that her aunt endured Auschwitz until liberation. Her husband was not as fortunate and died on a death march shortly before being freed.
Incredibly, Holsten shared that her aunt's son survived and lives today in Israel. Yet, the story of his mother and millions of victims reflects the unspeakable cruelty of the Holocaust.
The Harvey School administration now intends on sharing Holsten's story every four years, ensuring that every graduating class hears Holsten's story.
As the last living survivors of the Holocaust slowly leave us, the responsibility of remembrance falls on the generations who live long after. Holsten's story reveals that history is never far in the distance— and that unspeakable cruelty and violence may resurrect itself if we dare not confront our silence and complacency.
Looking ahead, they remain committed to never letting Holsten's words fade. The act of listening to Holsten's recorded testimony will forever be a part of the Harvey School's graduation tradition, inspiring students to preserve an unspeakable history in the name of shared responsibility— and ensuring that the terrors of the Holocaust never happen again.
As we navigate an era marked by rising disinformation, extremism, and social tension, Holsten's story is not just relevant — it's essential. Her testimony serves not just as a remembrance of the past, but as a warning to the present. To ensure that such atrocities are never repeated, we need to continue listening to the stories of survivors while they are still with us and commit to carrying their voices forward once they are gone. Related
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