What is the root cause of hatred? Where does it come from?

These were two questions posed to seventh-graders at Winman Middle School by Francine Denerstein, a member of the Rhode Island Holocaust Center, last Thursday.

Denerstein was born in the Bergen-Belsen camp, a camp for displaced concentration camp survivors, in 1948. Around a year and a half after she was born, her family came to the United States, eventually settling in Rhode Island.

Denerstein said that her dream growing up was to be a normal American girl. However, given her parents’ background and the fact that she started school only knowing Yiddish, her upbringing was anything but average. While it took her a little bit to come to terms with it, in her adult life she wanted to make sure that their stories were not forgotten.

“I realized that I was the bearer of these memories, and I felt compelled to tell their story,” Denerstein said. “I began to slowly understand the impact that my parents’ experience had on my own life. I made a promise, and that was to never be silent again.”

Denerstein’s granddaughter, Samarah Lindberg, is a student on Winman’s Anchor team, and once her mother noticed she was doing a unit on the Holocaust, she reached out to Lindberg’s teachers to see if they would want Denerstein to talk.

Teacher Heather Fielding said having Denerstein  talk to her class was “such a special opportunity.” Students in the Anchor team had been reading “Daniel’s Story,” a historical fiction novel about a Jewish boy growing up in Nazi Germany.

“I want the students to realize that the lessons from this, that moment in history, are still applicable to today,” Fielding said. “I wanted them to know what they could do as a human being to make their world a better place.”

“Keep your voice going. Speak up. It is your light.”

Throughout the talk, Denerstein told students about her parents, their experiences throughout the Holocaust, and how they processed the trauma from it differently. Her parents met at the camp, and while her father tended to be much more open about his experiences, her mother, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), was not.

“She and my mother hid in a sewer for several months before being caught and sent to labor camps,” Denerstein said. “My grandmother was killed in front of her, and my mother was sent to a concentration camp.”

At the camp, Denerstein’s mother was caught stealing bread to give to a sick relative. She was stripped naked, beaten and left for dead. Still, she managed to survive.

The power of people’s choices and actions, Denerstein said, was of paramount importance. As she noted, the Nazis took power in Germany and carried out the acts that they did because too many people were willing to enable their actions by not speaking up.

“The opposite of love is not hate,” Denerstein said, quoting author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel,” it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness- it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy- it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death- it’s indifference.”

Fielding hopes  students realize the power of standing up for others, and how they could help make the world a better place through their actions.

Following the talk, Denerstein received no shortage of student questions- half an hour’s worth. She praised Winman’s students for being well-prepared, and hoped her speech could help make a difference and inspire students to fight against hatred in a world where bigotry is still a major issue.

“I think the sad part is that life doesn’t look real different right now- this potential for blowup is everywhere,” Denerstein said. “And that’s what makes me very sad. So it requires people to speak up and to be present.”

As the horrors of the Holocaust move further into the past, Denerstein said it is important that the family members of survivors speak about their older relatives’ personal experiences. With three generations of descendants present at Winman Middle School- Lindberg’s mother was in attendance as well- the experiences of Denerstein’s parents was not something that would soon be forgotten by those in attendance.

“The greatest gift my parents gave me was, and I gave my children and Samarah and my other grandchildren this- you have a voice,” Denerstein said. “That is where freedom is for me. Keep your voice going. Speak up. It is your light.”