Natalie Meltzer, who organised a trip to Auschwitz for young adults, said: 'I thought everyone’s grandpa had been through the Holocaust'
March 12, 2019 17:04
When Natalie Meltzer was younger she would listen in horror to her grandfather’s stories about how he managed to survive six concentration camps.
Harry Balsam, who was born in 1929 in Gorlice, Poland was separated from his mother, sister and younger brother at the age of 12 as they boarded a train to Belzec. It was the last time he saw them.
His mother, sister Gitel and brother Joseph were murdered, while his brother Sanek was shot by an SS Officer whilst searching for food for the family outside the ghetto in Gorlice.
“He was the sort of person who often talked about what happened to him,” Mrs Meltzer said.
It was hearing her grandfather’s stories which inspired her to set up an initiative designed specifically to teach young Jewish adults about the Holocaust.
“It wasn't covered on the curriculum the same way as it is now and I think there is a lack of awareness for Jewish people my age. It is important they engage in what happened,” she said.
Last week, under the guidance of the Holocaust Educational Trust she and more than 60 young Jewish adults from across went to Poland to visits sites of the Holocaust, including Krakow, Płaszów, where Mr Balsam survived, and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
When the 35-year-old mother of two was growing up she “didn’t know anything different, I thought everyone’s grandpa had been through the Holocaust.”
Despite always knowing about what happened, it was not until after Mr Balsam died, that she managed to visit Auschwitz for the first time.
“I had meant to go with him while he was alive but it never happened. Ever since then I’ve wanted to do something that helps to keep his memory alive and educates people about what happened to him and others.”
During the groups visit to Płaszów she spoke to the delegation about her grandfather’s story.
“It was incredibly moving to return to the site where my grandfather was so cruelly imprisoned,” she said.
“I was so nervous I just wanted to tell everyone his story and make sure everyone was aware of what happened.”
During his time at Plaszow Mr Balsam was selected by the camps commandant to be a shoeshine boy. It was a job that kept him "relatively" safe and the commandants fondness of him also saved him from death.
Mrs Meltzer said that while he was imprisoned there Mr Balsam met many Nazi officials including high-ranking Nazi Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS and a chief architect of the genocide.
“It felt overwhelming to be standing in the same place my grandpa had been,” she said.
The group was also joined by Leslie Kleinman, a Holocaust survivor who was at Auschwitz.
Mrs Meltzer said: “Having Leslie with us was incredibly powerful. Nothing is more moving than going into Auschwitz with a survivor and leaving with them again.”
She said she hoped the trip would be the first of many which HET will run with young adults.
“They already educate school children so well but it is important that we as young adults know so that we can educate our children. It is our responsibility as there are fewer survivors to do that."
One of the young adults who attended, was reality television star Lauren Pope. Ms Pope visited Auschwitz along with others in the group, because her boyfriend is Jewish.
While Ms Pope did not publicise her presence on the trip, she did use Instagram to recommend that people make the same visit under the guidance of the Holocaust Educational Trust.
Mrs Meltzer said: “It is important as many people try to educate themselves as possible, it doesn’t matter who you are. While the trip was mostly Jewish adults we had others with us who weren’t. It is important to learn about it, Jewish or not.”
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “Grandchildren of survivors and their friends have taken it upon themselves to deepen their learning about our shared history.
“Seeing the sites where the Holocaust took place allows people to learn about the darkest depths of human hatreds in a way they cannot from books and films.”
