Viola Phillips: Magda Brown, A Strong-Minded Holocaust Survivor

As I walked into the room to hear Magda Brown’s story, I was expecting to see a sad, unhappy lady in a wheelchair or a cane. However, I saw a very live and intelligent woman that was smiling from ear to ear. Mrs. Brown shared her story with us and others in the past so that she can talk about all the hatred, prejudice, and discrimination that went on in the Holocaust.

While Mrs. Brown was sharing her story, I hung onto every word that she said and pictured myself being in her shoes. Having the opportunity to sit right in front of a Holocaust survivor was an honor. 

Mrs. Brown was born and raised in Hungary by a loving family. She was not poor, but she wasn’t rich either. She stated that, when he house became part of the ghetto, she had to live with 40 people in one room and she had to learn how to share. That would have ruined me because I did not know how to share as a child. How could you live in a room with 39 other people? Everywhere you turn there is a body. That would have made me sick to my stomach and made things very awkward. The thought of Mrs. Brown having to allow people she did not know wear her clothes and play with her toys somehow made me upset. 

But, as she said, this was nothing. After a while, Mrs. Brown was loaded onto a cattle car with 80 people along with her parents. She had to stand up for three entire days without any water and she could remember that it was hot and dark, and there was a stench of body odor. Living without water for three days...

In Auschwitz, she soon felt as someone without a name. She was separated from her mother, who was sent to the gas chambers. The last words she remembers her mother saying were, "I will see you later." However, later never came! 

I know Mrs. Brown was hurt... I’m nothing without my mother, so the thought of a teenager not being able to see her mother or talk to her again hurts my soul.

I am so happy that Ms. Brown and a few other people were free after being rescued by two soldiers. Some Holocaust survivors were sent to America so that they could find their families (the family-members that were still alive). For some time, however, the Holocaust survivors could not talk about what went on...

The last three important lessons Magda shared with us were:   

1. Protect your freedom.
2. Think before you hate.
3. Stand up to the deniers of the Holocaust.

I must start doing these three things that Mrs. Brown shared. Number two really stood out to me because when someone does something to my family members or to me, I immediately start to dislike them and then my anger grows and turns into hate. I need to start asking myself if it is worth it because I am not hurting no one but myself. Mrs. Brown went through so much and she can still stand in front of crowds, smile, and tell her story without shedding a tear; just reminiscing on what happened decades ago would kill me. I commend her because she is the true definition of "A Strong Woman Survivor."