[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 79 (Tuesday, June 21, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                            L'CHAIM: TO LIFE

                                 ______


                   HON. MARJORIE MARGOLIES-MEZVINSKY

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 21, 1994

  Ms. MARGOLIES-MEZVINSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay homage to 
my constituent, Mr. Michael Herskovitz, a man who captures the spirit 
not only of survival, but the realization of accomplishment. Mr. 
Herskovitz's is a story of the terrors of the Holocaust, and of a 
spirit that refused to be broken. Through Nazi incarceration in the 
labor camps, to isolated fears in a strange land with unknown customs, 
to the perseverance of desires, Mr. Herskovitz, a Czechoslovakian 
immigrant, epitomizes the promise of the American Dream.
  Recently, a book recounting the details of Mr. Herskovitz's life was 
brought to my attention. ``Early One Saturday Morning'' is written 
through the eyes of the 13-year-old Michael. Hidden within the 
simplicity of the words is a horrifying story which can chill you down 
to the marrow of your bones. It is the tale of concentration camps 
Auschwitz and Mathousen--of a young boy separated from family and 
friends and the hellish existence created to try to break the human 
spirit. After watching the extinction of countless people before his 
eyes, young Michael still willed himself to live. Recounting the 
experiences, he observes, ```All it takes for evil to survive is for 
the good people to do nothing.''' He was one of 90 children of 8,000 to 
survive. At liberation, he weighed a mere 96 kilos, about 45 pounds. 
Mr. Herskovitz's story only begins with his hospital recovery.
  Following his rehabilitation, Michael was reunited with his uncle, 
one brother, and two of his sisters--the rest of his family had been 
exterminated. Overcoming a heavy heart, Michael was educated as an 
automotive mechanic in Czechoslovakia. Then, he dedicated his energies 
to the Israeli Independence movement. Working hard and supported by his 
wife, Frida, also a Holocaust survivor, Michael came to the United 
States. He spoke no English. In this strange land of foreign customs, 
he decided that he ``want[ed] to stay and bring [his] family here * * * 
It was heaven because the family was together again, united, and [they] 
could begin to plan a future.'' An uncrushable spirit, Michael 
Herskovitz went from the status of immigrant blue collar laborer, to 
working in a local gas station, to partner, to sole owner. He 
essentially lives the American dream. Now as he retires, Mr. Herskovitz 
is surrounded by the love of his family, grown in the generations. He 
recounts the horrors of the Holocaust, fearing that silence may doom us 
to repeat an unthinkable history whose piercing memories cannot begin 
to penetrate the carnage of body and soul.
  Let us remember the past, but also think of the hope and vitality of 
unlikely heroes such as Michael Herskovitz. He is not merely a survivor 
but a symbol of hope and dreams. Let us follow the example of this 
extraordinary man, for I cannot say it better than his own words:

       I am so glad to be alive and I try to get every drop of 
     life out of each hour of the days that I have been given * * 
     * Live my life with a clear conscience, do as much good as I 
     can.

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