Sylvia Ruth Gutmann – Rediscovering Hope Amid Great Loss
Sylvia Ruth Gutmann spoke to a group of veterans about her Holocaust experiences. She went on to recount how, at the age of three, her family was imprisoned at a concentration camp.
“On Sept. 16, (1942), my 34-year-old red-haired, green-eyed mother went up in smoke in the ovens of that camp.” Six months later it was her father at the age of 42. She lost nearly 40 family members as a result of the Holocaust.
But while she’s experienced great loss, she chooses to see hope where it’s often hard to find. And she wanted to express her deepest thanks to those who fought the German forces all those years ago.
September 1942, The children at Rivesaltes saved by Lisi Hanau.
“How do I say thank you to the men and women who came in their planes … to save my life, to allow me the freedom to raise a child, to dream big dreams,” Gutmann said. “And though one day we may leave, I will never forget you — ever, ever, ever.”
