May 5, 1999
Holocaust survivor: abolish hate
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Think twice before ever using the word "hate" again.
That is the advice of Martin Lowenberg, a native of Germany who survived the Holocaust, where hate gone wild caused the deliberate extermination of 6 million Jews and 5 million "undesirables" between 1938 and 1945. Some of those killed included his parents and younger twin brothers, sent to Auschwitz in late 1943.
"People talk about hate; of course, that is something Hitler did very well," said Lowenberg, who now lives in the Detroit area and travels statewide to speak of his experiences.
"We should never forget what he did, because people still hate. Why? No one knows. But if we could eliminate hate and speak from the heart, the heart tells us to love."
Last Thursday morning, Lowenberg spoke about growing up Jewish in Germany under Hitler, surviving the death camps and what he believes now about love and hate before 600 students at Traverse City Central High School. An evening forum was open to the public.
Lowenberg opened his talk by drawing a chilling analogy for the students of what their life could be like if they were living through a situation like that of the refugees from Kosovo.
"Heaven forbid someone come in here right now and chase everybody out and march them to maybe Grayling, Gaylord, Saginaw or Muskegon," Lowenberg said. "You cannot stop at home, never see your folks again, don't know where they are. That's how people are being affected there right now."
Lowenberg was invited to speak to the school by students of the Transition Class at Central High School. The class is for students struggling with attendance and academic issues. They meet two hours a day for extra help with their schoolwork.
They found his talk particularly illuminating following the deadly school shootings in Littleton, Colo.
"We thought this was important, especially with what is going on now," said Clifford Rounds, a sophomore in the Transition Class. "It was history and history always has to be shared."
After Lowenberg's talk, students from the Transition Class presented him with a Central High School sweatshirt and a check for $500 for the Holocaust Memorial Center in West Bloomfield. Students from the Transition Class will visit the center May 5.
The money was a donation from the Safe and Drug Free Schools program, said Officer Dennis Padgett of the Traverse City Police Department, the school liaison officer stationed at Central High School. Padgett works closely with students in the Transition Class and suggested to them that they invite Lowenberg to speak to the school.
"Hearing him would be important even if we didn't have those disasters like in Colorado or Yugoslavia," Padgett said. "Our society is becoming removed from the basics, and hearing Martin helps us get in touch with the basics we should be living in everyday."