Holocaust Survivor Shares Experience at IU1
As Dr. Mendler shared the heart-wrenching tale of his journey into hell and back, students, teachers and administrators at Intermediate Unit 1 sat in complete silence, their eyes never deflecting from him. Dr. Mendler is a Holocaust survivor.
Born in Poland in 1926, Dr. Robert Mendler lived a normal happy childhood in his native village. His parents were well-respected business people in the community of 3,000 Jews and 5,000 Gentiles. Robert went to school, played with friends and shared life with his brother, sister and parents. That all changed in 1939 when he was forced to wear a white armband and began working as a stonecutter in a concentration camp. Throughout his journey, he would be in 10 concentration camps, lose 82 family members and drop to a weight of just 75 pounds.
Dr. Mendler was invited to speak at Intermediate Unit 1 by Noreen Fleming and Wendy Tiano, IU1 consultants, as a culminating activity for a project they are facilitating. Several times throughout his talk on March 3, 2008, Dr. Mendler pauses. You know he is again feeling the anguish as he describes regularly seeing the black smoke coming from the camp chimney, the sorrow and pride he felt as he recalls his mother's final words to him, and the fear and desperation he experienced in clinging to his most valuable possession, his spoon. At one point, he rolls up his sleeve and shows the number tattooed on his forearm, the only identity his captors allowed him. Several times he says his goal was to stay alive for the day. His nightmare ended when he and three friends escaped from Auschwitz and hid on a nearby farm until the Americans arrived.
For close to 60 years, Dr. Mendel has lived in America and is a very proud American. He and Joan, his wife, live in Latrobe, Pennsylvania where they raised two sons and owned a successful shoe store. Now in his eighties, with his wife at his side, he travels to schools, universities and churches sharing his experience with young people in the hope that we never do forget and we never let it happen again.
As part of the Reading Apprenticeship Initiative, Mrs. Fleming and Mrs. Tiano have been working with students at IU1 schools to increase reading comprehension and show students the power and pleasure of books. Mrs. Fleming and Mrs. Tiano started a literary circle with the students to explore "The Traveler's Gift" by Andy Andrews in which the main character has the opportunity to talk with Anne Frank while she and her family are in hiding. As with most book clubs, the discussion of the book opens the door to other topics and in this case, that was the Holocaust.
Mrs. Fleming says, "We asked Dr. Mendler to speak to students so they would understand that the Holocaust they read about happened to real people." Mrs. Tiano adds, "We want students to understand that reading is often only the beginning of the experience. Books are alive and give us the opportunity to walk in somebody else's shoes. Sometimes, as in this case, that journey can be painful, but the experience is always rewarding, enriching and worth the effort."
