29-01-2025
Valley students hear from Holocaust survivor in Youngstown
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – A survivor of the Holocaust gave local students an image of life as a young child from a Jewish family in Nazi-occupied Europe.
Walking slowly and with a cane, 84-year-old Helen Marks held the attention of nearly 1,200 middle and high school students for more than an hour at Stambaugh Auditorium Wednesday. The Holocaust survivor was a guest of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of prisoners from Auschwitz.
'And there are not too many of us that are still alive, able to talk — willing,' Marks said. 'I've learned that there are times when words are insufficient. They are too puny, too small, not encompassing enough to what happened.'
Marks was born to Jewish parents in Belgium. Germany invaded her country when she was just 2 years old. Her father was eventually taken to a concentration camp where he spent nearly three years. But fearing for her daughter's safety, Marks' found a family that would take her until the war ended.
In the late 1940s, Helen and her parents came to America and she grew up in the Cleveland area. She started giving lectures about 20 years ago.
'I feel a responsibility for the million and a half children that never got to speak at all,' Marks said.
Marks said she has never experienced anti-semitism but knows it exists.
'There is enough prejudice, enough hatred, enough God knows what to keep all kinds of ugly things alive,' she said.
As a retired social studies teacher, Marks won't hide her disappointment with today's educational system, which she says leaves young people with little understanding of world history.
'I really think that history needs to start, at the latest, in the seventh grade,' Marks said.
While she hopes her words make an impact, Marks told the students she will continue to tell her story for as long as she's able.
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