Bashert, a Yiddish word that means “fated” or “destined,” comes up often in conversation with Sam Harris. “It was bashert,” he says, talking about the $45-million Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center that, without Harris, would not exist today. Many things about the project suggest bashert: the idea for the museum, which was galvanized by a Holocaust survivors’ dinner Harris attended in New York in 1999; the museum’s location in Skokie, a wooded lot that became available only after everyone had given up all hope of securing it; and the museum’s collection, 11,000 evocative objects, donated by Midwest Holocaust survivors, that tell a story no one should ever forget.
Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation (2009)
He was four years old when the war broke out in 1939. Upon Nazi occupation a portion of Deblin was turned into a ghetto where Sammy and his family lived. Soon overcrowding, lack of food and medication caused men, women and children to die on the streets of Deblin from typhus, dysentery and starvation.
In 1942, Sammy and his family were rounded up for deportation. During the chaos of the round up Sammy’s father pushed him out line and told him to run and hide. Sammy watched his parents and four sisters and brothers march towards the railcars. That was the last time Sammy saw his family. Sammy was able to escape death and his survival was nothing short of a miracle.
New York Times (April 22, 2011)
(Excerpt: “…and a leather belt that Samuel Harris — the museum’s president, who was imprisoned in Nazi camps from ages 4 through 12 — had kept with him as his sole comfort…”)
By Emin Seferovic-Drnovsek – On April 29, 2009 at William Howard Taft High School, Samuel R. Harris came as a guest speaker. He spoke to the 7th grade Academic Center students during their 6th period class. Mr. Harris was invited to talk about the Holocaust.
The 7th grade language arts teacher Mrs. Asvos has been having us reading “Night” by Elie Wiesel which is about the Holocaust. Ms. Asvos worked hard and got Mr. Harris to come to our school.