The Shoah, or Holocaust, as its more commonly known, lasted over a decade and claimed the lives of millions of people: Jews, Roma, the LGBT+ Community, Disabled Peoples, Poles, and So Many More. By Remembering Their Stories, and the Stories of Those Who Survived, or Sought Vengeance For Those Who Didn't, We Ensure that it never happens again and that their stories will never be forgotten. Below you will find a fraction of those stories, each one powerful. A select few of these stories come from people who were born after the Shoah came to an end, and I have marked them with this sign **.
In schools today, we're lucky if we're taught anything at all about the Shoah. Usually all the lesson entails is something along the lines of "Millions died, and Hitler was involved." Remembering history this way does a disservice to not just the people involved, but the lessons we can learn from them. Here are some of the stories of those who survived or helped others survive and thrive.
Entries:
- Abba Kovner, The Founder of the Jewish Avengers
- Alfréd Wetzler, One of the Few Who Successfully Escaped Auschwitz
- Aloisia Veit, Victim of the Nazi Euthanasia Program who was Also Hitler's Distant Cousin
- Anne Frank, Her Diary Is Read By Millions Every Year
- Antonina Żabiński, The Zookeeper's Wife, She Helped Save Hundreds By Hiding Them in the Warsaw Zoo
- Ariadna Scriabina, Resistance Fighter in Occupied France
- August Landmesser, His Bravery was Captured In a Now Iconic Photograph
- Sergeant Benjamin Ferencz, The Last Surviving Prosecutor from Nuremburg
- Chiune Sugihara, He and His Wife are Credited With Saving 6,000 Jews
- Christine Denner, Saved Edith Hahn's Life
- Corrie ten Boom, Thousands of schoolchildren have read her memoir, The Hiding Place
- Deborah E Lipstadt**, Shoah Historian Who Flipped the Tables on One of the Biggest Shoah Deniers
- Dina Babbitt, Survivor who was Forced to Paint Romani Prisoners and was Then Denied Ownership of Her Own Paintings
- Edith Hahn Beer, Author of the Nazi Officer's Wife
- Elie Wiesel, Survivor and Later Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council
- Emilie Schindler, Savior of Jews During the Shoah
- Eugene Lazowski, He Created a Fake Epidemic in Order to Save Thousands
- Eva Mozes Kor, One of the Many Twins Experimented on in Auschwitz
- Fritz Bauer, The Jewish Judge Essential in Launching the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials
- Georg Rauch, The Jewish Soldier Drafted to Fight in Hitler's Army
- Gisella Perl, Gynecologist in Auschwitz
- Hans Scholl, Leader of the White Rose Resistance Movement
- Henryk Ross, The Photographer of the Łódź Ghetto
- Hessy Levinsons Taft, The "Perfect Aryan Baby" who happens to be Jewish
- Irena Sendler, Savior of Children in Poland During the Shoah
- Irma Eckler, Her and Her Husband's Story is Heartbreaking to Say the Least
- Jan Żabiński, Owner of the Warsaw Zoo and Polish Resistance Fighter
- Jan Zwartendijk, Alongside Chiune Sugihara He Helped Save 6,000 Jews
- Jane Haining, Missionary and One of Ten Confirmed Scotsmen to Have Died in a Nazi Concentration Camp
- Julien Bryan, The Man Who Dared Take Video Evidence of Life Inside Hitler's Berlin
- Lela Karagianni, Leader of the Bouboulina Resistance Group in Greece
- Leonore Goldschmidt, Teacher Who Continued to Teach Jewish Children Inside Hitler's Berlin
- Lya Graf, Woman Born with Dwarfism who Died in a Concentration Camp
- Miep Gies, The Woman Who Saved Anne Frank's Diary
- Motke Zeidel, One of the Last Survivors of Ponar and the Last Survivor of the Vilna Burning Brigade
- Oskar Schindler, He Saved Thousands of Jews Thanks to His Famous List
- Nicholas Winton, Creator of the Kindertransport Which Saved the Lives of Many Children
- Perla Ovitz, One of the Seven Dwarfs of Auschwitz
- Raoul Wallenberg, Credited With Saving Around 100,000 Hungarian Jews
- Robert Van Jan Pelt**, Auschwitz Historian Who Testified at Deborah Lipstadt's Trial
- Ruth Westheimer, Sexologist Known Affectionately as Dr. Ruth
- Simon Wiesenthal, The Nazi Hunter
- Simone Veil, Politician and Women's Rights Advocate who Survived the Camps as a Teenager
- Stanislawa Leszczysnka, the Midwife of Auschwitz
- Tuvia Bielski, He Saved His Family's Lives By Hiding...In a Forest
- Willem Arondeus, The Gay Artist Who Openly Resisted the Nazis
- Captain Witold Pilecki, The Man Who Volunteered to Break Into Auschwitz