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News Archive

2008-07-23

Middle School Student Wins Regional Essay Contest

Mikhael Smits ’13, son of Frederique and Conrad Smits, won first place in the Middle School Division of the recent Israel Arbeiter Essay Contest, sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston.

The contest is a tribute to Mr. Arbeiter, president of the American Association of Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston. Mikhael wrote about his great-grandmother, a survivor of the Shoah who now resides in Israel. His essay follows; it is titled “A Hero?”

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A German killed my husband. A German saved my life. This is my great-grandmother’s story. My great-grandmother grew up in Alsace, France. Before the war, my great-grandfather was part of the French army, but as the war began, he quit, and relocated to the south of France with the rest of his family.

One day, the Gestapo came to their cottage to arrest his family. As they were being gathered downstairs, my great-grandmother and her five-year-old son (my grandfather), were sent upstairs to pack their bags. As they packed, a German soldier came and started to stroke my grandfather’s curly blond hair. As he did so, he commented that his son looked just like my grandfather.

My great-grandmother then asked him why he was leading them to their deaths. The German proceeded to risk his life. He instructed them to hide behind a closet, but if they moved, they were dead. As my great-grandmother hid in apprehension with her son behind the closet, the rest of her family was deported to their imminent deaths. Her husband died in Buchenwald in January 1945, just a few months before the liberation of the camps.

After the war, my great-grandmother endeavored to find the German who had helped her, and to nominate him for the award of “Righteous Amongst the Nations.” Unfortunately, she was never able to find him.

I believe that this simple yet heroic action that saved my great-grandmother and her son was a great kindness, and my family will be forever indebted to the soldier for his actions. However, it seems obvious that anyone who had family members murdered by this German will forever hate him.

An ominous question remains unanswered. If my great-grandmother had found the German, would he have been a hero? After possibly killing dozens of others, and saving two Jews, did the saving of those two Jews make him a hero?

Having a lengthy discussion with my great-grandmother has given me perspective on the issue. I believe that this German acted out of compassion, and out of love for his son. Why else would a Nazi, part of one of the world’s most successful armies, risk his life for a Jewish woman he had never seen before in his life?

When examined further, it is clear that the German’s act was a simple one in itself, whereas the results of his simple act had a colossal impact on my family. For example, this Passover I will be in Israel celebrating my great-grandmother’s 95th birthday.
When I see her cake with 95 glowing candles, I will be thinking of a light in the dark. I will remember that this light is the German that saved her life. If it were not for the German’s courageous act of kindness, I would not be alive. My great-grandmother has had the opportunity to have 13 great-grandchildren in four countries. If it were not for the German, they would not be alive either. Our family is alive because of a German. Our family is not complete because of a German.

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