By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
Brandon Twp. — Behind every name of the Holocaust victims there’s a face. Their story reflects atrocities mirrored in the death and suffering of millions.
From 6:30-8 p.m., on Aug. 16, the Brandon Township Public Library, 304 South St., Ortonville, will host ‘My Mother’s Voice,’ a program created by story-teller Judy Sima.
“Real people lost their lives in the Holocaust, it’s not just something you read,” said Sima. “It’s personal, and hopefully people will remember the stories.”
“I tell my mother’s story of her escape from Germany during the Holocaust in 1941, and I tell it as my mother,” said Sima. “By the time I became a storyteller, she had dementia, so she couldn’t answer my questions and her memory wasn’t reliable. The story was created with research at Holocaust museums and by talking to other family members.”
Sima illustrates her mother’s story with a PowerPoint full of documents and photos.
“I tell the story of when they came to America,” she said. “And I’ll tell another story about how I became a librarian. My mother had a German saying for everything, and one of her sayings helped me choose my career.”
The program also includes her mother’s interactions with the Gestapo and how she convinced them to release Sima’s grandfather from the Buchenwald Concentration Camp by using the medals he earned in WWI fighting on the side of the Germans.
“People forget, or don’t know about historical events,” she said. “It’s important to hear of a survivor, but unfortunately many of them are dying off. So I’m second generation, and I go to schools and libraries to tell the story so people don’t forget.”
To register for the program, visit brandonlibrary.org or call 248-627-1460.