Palo Alto teens join Holocaust survivor in 'finders keepers' battle | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California

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Palo Alto teens join Holocaust survivor in ‘finders keepers’ battle

11:28 am Friday, March 6, 2009
by amanda pazornik
It’s a rare thing to be surrounded by hundreds of high school students and not hear the melody of a cell phone’s ring, laughter from the distracted or the soft, but oh-so-obvious sound of snoring.

So as I sat among five history classes at Palo Alto High School March 5, I anticipated the aforementioned might happen. After all, I was once in high school and most likely guilty of one or all of those detention-worthy actions.

Yet, when Holocaust survivor Dina Babbitt took the stage at the school’s Haymarket Theater, the room fell silent. The students were attentive, intrigued and mesmerized by the petite, redheaded woman sitting before them.

They have pledged to help Babbitt of Santa Cruz retain portraits she painted to stay alive in Auschwitz. They vowed to send e-mails and letters to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland, which considers Babbitt’s art its property. The teens will also create a professional pamphlet about Babbitt’s ordeal for a class project.

Dina Babbitt describes the horrors of Auschwitz for hundreds of students.

Babbitt, who survived Auschwitz after Dr. Josef Mengele commissioned her to paint portraits of interned Gypsies and Romas, recounted story after story about her harrowing experience. She remembered every incident with such clarity – it was nothing short of captivating.

I was most moved by her tales of Erik Fischer, a young runner for the SS men in her camp at Auschwitz. Though he was given a chance to escape, Erik voluntarily went to the gas chambers with his parents. “He turned around and, with his little swagger, walked away from the gates of freedom,” Babbitt recalled.

Inspiration and motivation came in the form of hug upon hug, as students sprung from their seats to envelope Babbitt. She was beaming. The students were thrilled. Small tears welled up in my eyes. At the end, Babbitt left her young audience with this message:

“Don’t tell me about how kids today are no good…because I know better.”

Now 86, Babbitt has been on a 30-year mission to retain her paintings from the museum, which refuses to release them. The museum views her artwork as rare artifacts and evidence of Nazi genocide, not Babbitt’s personal effects.

“I feel helpless,” she said. “This is the feeling when you’re in camp and being kept against your will.”

Click here to read my complete story

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Palo Alto teens join Holocaust survivor in ‘finders keepers’ battle

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