'It's an honor to have him here'
Holocaust survivor inspires students' understanding, self-reflection

By Melissa Fili
MethuenLife Writer

As he entered the auditorium, the entire Tenney eighth grade fell silent. All eyes followed this bespectacled, silver-haired 83-year-old visitor as he headed to the stage, briefcase in hand. And as he passed by, one lone clap spiraled into a thunderous round of applause.
He is Holocaust survivor Israel Arbeiter, and he was in Methuen to share his story of surviving the seething hatred, physical torture and mental anguish inflicted upon him by the Nazis from 1939 to 1945.
The personal letters of Tenney’Äôs students requesting his visit ’Äî ’ÄúYou touched my heart,’Äù says Newton resident Arbeiter ’Äî were mailed to him after the class started reading ’ÄúThe Diary of a Young Girl’Äù by Anne Frank.
’ÄúThe students didn’Äôt understand the depth of the Holocaust,’Äù explains eighth-grade teacher Mary Beth Donovan-Grassi. ’ÄúWe decided we needed a true teacher.’Äù
Students’Äô eyes fixated on the Polish-born Arbeiter as he recounted being their age when World War II broke out and ’ÄúI was declared a slave,’Äù his middle-class family of seven forced from their home in darkness with only the clothes they wore. He told them about years of hunger, the rampant disease, the screams in the night and his fear of the unknown. Auschwitz, gas chambers, mass shootings, near-death experiences ’Äî the Tenney children heard awful truths, with Arbeiter noting, ’ÄúI will not tell you everything. It is too painful.’Äù
But the Polish-born Arbeiter knows that it is only by sharing his story that such a human abomination can be avoided in the future. Now a crusader for Holocaust survivors’Äô rights, he testified against high-ranking Nazis during war crimes trials in the 1960s and ’Äô70s. He helped establish the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston. He has addressed prestigious audiences including the U.S. House of Representatives and Harvard University. He has been honored in Germany for fostering understanding between the current generation there and Holocaust survivors.
’ÄúThere is never enough remembering,’Äù Arbeiter has said.
And now he has been to the Tenney where, as he rolled up his left sleeve revealing the number (A18,651) that Hitler’Äôs soldiers tattooed on his forearm, he moved some children to tears ’Äî because now they do understand. They have been studying the literature, symbolism and propaganda surrounding the Holocaust. In math, they’Äôve focused on proportions and may comprehend better than most the phrase ’Äúthe murder of 6 million Jews.’Äù
Most powerful of all, they were moved by an incredible first-hand account from a Holocaust survivor.
’Äú(Arbeiter) is amazing. I’Äôm upset that he had to live it,’Äù said student Alexa Grande. ’ÄúWe really needed (his visit) in this community. There’Äôs still a lot of discrimination. Kids should learn young not to discriminate and what course that thinking can take.’Äù
’ÄúI’Äôm honored to have him here,’Äù explained student Orlando Gonzalez. ’ÄúWe’Äôre feeling what he’Äôs feeling. There are still evil people in this world. (The Holocaust) can happen any time, any place, even up until this day in time.’Äù
’ÄúHe made me feel that we should stop taking personal things for granted,’Äù said Marcos Pena. ’ÄúThink about other people who don’Äôt have anything. Luckily, (Arbeiter’Äôs) faith kept him going.’Äù
Arbeiter’Äôs parents and 7-year-old brother were killed by the Nazis. But he has never forgotten the last words his father spoke to him: ’ÄúSave yourself. If you survive the war, remember to carry on with life and tradition.’Äù
After the war, Arbeiter immigrated to the United States and settled in Boston where he ran a tailoring business. He and his wife Ann, whom he met in a concentration camp, have three children, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild (’Äúthe crowned jewel of our family’Äù). He has returned to Auschwitz three times, most recently in July with two of his grandsons who wanted to learn about their roots.