By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — A large crowd turned out Tuesday night to hear Holocaust survivor Irene Miller’s haunting experiences and words of warning during a 90-minute discussion at the Performing Arts Center in Warsaw.
Speaking without notes, the 94-year-old provided a first-hand account of her survival in Siberian labor camps and her ongoing efforts to bring clarity to issues surrounding the World War II atrocities that led to the deaths of millions of Jews.
She said extreme hunger was the worst part of her experience.
Her extended family in Poland included nearly 100 people.
“Not a single one — not a single one of them survived. They were all killed during the Holocaust,” she told the crowd.
She warned that people today need to consider the circumstances that led to the killing of millions of Jewish people. Educating young people, she said, is key.
“They have to learn and recognize signs that lead to a fascist totalitarian system. Prevent people from knowing what is happening. Describing the free press as the enemy of the people. Not only preventing people from knowing what’s happening, but feeding them lies and misinformation,” Miller said.
Miller spoke for nearly 90 minutes and took questions at the end.
She was asked about the apparent rise of anti-Semitism in the US and elsewhere.
“Sadly, it is,” she said. “And it is very painful for me to see this anti-Semitism that I have not experienced for years. I have come to the United States when I was 21 years old, and this is my adopted country, which I am grateful to call my country, but it hurts me so much that what goes on right now is so ugly. So much hate is being spread. ”
She also touched on the history of book burning.
“When I hear of a governmental entity that decides what kind of books can be kept in a library, I have the deja vu of what happened in Germany, of burning books,” she said.
Miller lives in Michigan, and many of her presentations are directed toward young people.
“It is not enough for them to know what happened. They have to learn and recognize signs that lead to a fascist totalitarian system,” she said.
She eventually wrote her memoir, Into No Man’s Land, which then led to ongoing speaking engagements
Miller greeted visitors afterward, during which sales of the book were available.
Miller’s speech was part of an ongoing Holocaust exhibit at the Warsaw Community Public Library that continues for several weeks.
