Surviving a nightmare

Most of the stories told today about the Holocaust are the same ones that secondary school teachers have used for decades—stories like the amazing account of survival from Elie Wiesel and the heartbreaking journal of Anne Frank. These classic works have taught millions around the world about one of the greatest tragedies to face humanity. It seems obvious to state a quote about why history is important but, as historians will claim, if we don’t remember the past then we are condemned to repeat it.

A new exhibit at the Oregon Jewish Museum reminds us of this important piece in human history through the story of Sala Garncarz. The exhibit, Letters to Sala, is a collection of postcards, letters and photos that tell Garncarz’s story of spending five years interred in a Nazi labor camp.

Garncarz’s story begins in October of 1940 when she was sent to the first of seven labor camps she would endure. Being just 16 when she was taken, her only source of communication with the outside world was through letters she received from loved ones outside of the camps.

When the Nazis demanded that Garncarz’s family hand over their daughter Raizel to the labor camps, Garncarz quickly offered to be taken instead. As she awaited deportation she met Ala Gertner, the woman who took care of her during her time in the camps. Three years after vowing to protect Garncarz, Gertner was tortured and then executed for helping to smuggle gunpowder into Auschwitz. This act was the only form of armed uprising in Auschwitz history.

Garncarz was given more freedom than many other prisoners, including being allowed to take short vacations home to visit her family, but eventually this was prohibited and the letters were her only way of communicating with the outside world. The letters were all censored and she was only allowed to write in German. To Garncarz the letters meant life—as long as she continued to send and receive them, her family and friends were still there, alive and well. Eventually, the letters stopped.

In 1945 the war ended and Garncarz was freed from the camps. She met an American soldier who brought her back to the United States and they began living the American dream. Garncarz didn’t speak of her experience in the camps until 1991. She revealed to her daughter the trauma she had faced, and for the first time since the war, revealed the box that held the hundreds of letters she had collected over that time.

Garncarz’s story is about survival and the ability to move past those things that want to weigh us down. Her story was first on exhibit at the New York Public Library but has since traveled the world, inspiring others to remain strong in times of hopelessness.