Martin Spett Interview Reflection
A Dwindling Voice
By: Shane Hendry and Matt Coyne
The Holocaust ended more than 60 years ago. However, the horrors of ethnic cleansing are forever inscribed in the minds of the remaining survivors. Their memories are full of misery, desperation and eventual liberation.
"To understand pain, one must undergo pain. We were constantly tormented by the unknown," Holocaust survivor and friend of the Manhattan College Holocaust Resource Center Martin Spett said in a speech to communication students.
Historians consider first-hand accounts of the Holocaust by Spett and other survivors as invaluable resources. Their stories connect abstract ideologies of terror to individuals with specific, concrete memories of the horror.
"The oral history interviews of Holocaust survivors allow historians to understand how the
policies laid out in the documents produced by the Nazis impacted the lives of those who
were the most directly effected by these policies-the victims," said Dr. Jamie Wraight, the Curator and Historian of The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive at The University of Michigan-Dearborn, in an email interview.
In an age in which the atrocities of the Holocaust seem more and more distant, its survivors continue to drop in number. In the mid-1990s, only 70,000 survivors were alive in the United States, according to an article in The New York Times. In light of this number, some oral historians and academic organizations such as the Manhattan College Holocaust Resource Center have redoubled their efforts to record and document the struggles, obstacles and joys of survivors. In collaboration with the Manhattan College Holocaust Resource Center, two MC students (Chris McShane and Alex Koveos) recorded and documented the struggles, obstacles and joys of Spett.
Spett is aware that oral history may resonate with people who are unmoved by textbook accounts of the Holocaust. He hopes that his first-hand account of the Holocaust will impact his listeners. "[The Holocaust] is very difficult to comprehend intellectually, and emotionally to understand," said Spett. "I hope that the message I am trying to convey will leave a lasting effect on you."
In his speech to an introductory journalism course, Spett asserted that the horrors of the Holocaust were even too difficult for many of his contemporaries to comprehend. Spett recounted how his American relatives complained about waiting in long lines for meat and nylons during the war. Their complaints seemed to reveal ignorance about the suffering that occurred during the Holocaust. Of this, he remarked. "I would love to have waited on line for meat or nylons."
While books, tour guides and Websites can provide individuals with compelling statistics and stories about the Holocaust, oral history is often effective in triggering an emotional response from listeners. When Spett spoke to a room full of college students in MC's William Scala room, he discussed many of the same events and incidents written in his book Reflections of the Soul: Martin Spett's Holocaust Experiences. His voice and presence, however, provided additional context and feeling that his book could not. Several students in the room stated that the emotion and sentiment in his voice captured them in a way a text never could.
Lessons of Genocide
By: Sean Duffy, Sarah Lutz and Kayla Hutzler
Genocide is a human condition that raises its ugly head in every generation, as Martin Spett, a Holocaust survivor, and Alain Rwabukamb, a Rwandan Genocide survivor, know too well. Spett and Rwabukamba share their frightening experiences of genocide with MC students and others in the hopes that remembering the lessons of past atrocities will help prevent future ones.
"I can still smell the incarceration and the burning of human flesh and hair to this day," said Spett. Memories such as this fuel Spett's need to speak out against genocide. "I will never stop being so involved because of the tragic situation that exists in the world today."
Spett was born in Tarnow, Poland on December 2, 1928. His mother, Sala Leisten, was a U.S.-born citizen, and his father, Arthur Spett, was born in Poland.
He and his family were sent to Bergen-Belsen, a deportation camp, in 1943.
Since its opening in 1996, Spett has worked closely with the MC Holocaust Resource Center. Through its sponsorship, he has given talks and interviews to multiple MC audiences. In addition, Spett has distributed his compelling memoir, Reflections of the Soul: Martin Spett's Holocaust Experiences, free of charge to MC students and faculty members. In his talks and memoir, he emphasizes the mantra "never again."
Spett is not alone is his mission to spotlight the deafening silence that often accompanies intolerance and hatred in society. Other survivors of genocide are speaking out, too.
Like the early days of the Holocaust in which the extermination of the Jews went unnoticed by many, the atrocities in Rwanda were doomed to the same fate. In the 1990's, the Hutu government was killing Tutsis nationals in the African nation of Rwanda. But few in the West seemed to conceptualize this atrocity as genocide.
Of this, Rwabukamba said, "To rationalize the genocide, foreign governments said it was simply, 'a fight between two tribes'."
This suppression and others motivate Spett and Rwabukamba to keep sharing their stories with those who haven't experienced genocide.
"Keeping quiet from what you've seen contributes to genocide," said Rwabukamba. Today, Rwabukamba and Spett speak out against the current genocide occurring in Darfur.
In 2004, the US Congress officially defined the conflict in Darfur as genocide. According to SaveDarfur.org, The United States Senate has passed an important resolution, S. Res. 684, which demonstrates the continued resolve of Congress to ensure that the U.S. Government remains dedicated to ending the conflict in Darfur. It highlights the need for a just and inclusive peace process, the full deployment of UNAMID (The United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur), and the free flow of humanitarian aid.
During the week of September 22, 2008, MC students raised $457 for the Save Darfur fund. This act and others seem to suggest that many MC students are committed to giving validity and credibility to the Spett's mantra "never again."