A Survivor’s Story

Stand for Israel  |  May 31, 2022

One way that we stand for Israel is by remembering the lessons of the Holocaust and saying “Never Again” to such hatred. And one way of doing this, of showing that we will “Never Forget,” is by sharing the stories of Holocaust survivors – of those who experienced this dark chapter in human history. And so we’d like to begin sharing some of these Survivor Stories that have been, through the years, recorded for future generations.

The first Holocaust survivor’s story that we will share is that of Anton Mason. Born in Romania in 1927, Anton grew up in a Jewish family and attended the same Hebrew school as renowned Holocaust survivor and author, Elie Wiesel. When the Nazis overran Europe and began their genocide of God’s people, Anton’s family was torn apart.

As Anton tells in this lengthy interview (recorded in 1998), his mother and younger brother were murdered at Auschwitz. His “uplifting” childhood friendships also came to an end, as “most of them died in the Holocaust.” Anton’s father survived Auschwitz, along with his son, but perished on the grueling forced transfer from that camp to Buchenwald. At Buchenwald, the now-orphaned Anton was reacquainted with his childhood classmate, Elie Wiesel, and both young men would survive to war’s end.

Watch Anton tell his story above, in this fascinating and quite lengthy interview carried out by the USC Shoah Foundation.

It is Holocaust survivors like Anton, and it is their stories, who will help us all say, “Never forget. Never again.”