The room was completely silent. All you could hear was the occasional sniffle of someone’s nose. He spoke with words that could make anyone feel completely overwhelmed with emotion. Each sentence that escaped his lips hit my heart like a fatal wound. I was completely revived by his words and the way he gave hope. Jerry Rawicki is a Holocaust survivor that came and spoke his story of endurance and faith to my classroom. I will never forget how he made me want to cry like a child who just dropped their ice cream, but also jump for joy that this man lived to tell the touching story that inspired me greatly. This is why I believe in the power of one human being.
“ All anyone could think about was bread. You completely forgot about everything else in life such as cakes and cookies. Once everyone smelled the bread being baked in the bakery on the outskirts of the Ghetto, everyone felt their hunger that consumed their life. You don’t know what true starvation is until you’re living in it.” spoke Jerry Rawicki. This man made me believe that I should be grateful for what I have every single day of my life. I am fortunate enough to live in a country where we don’t have to hide who we truly are to survive. His words spoke and awakened my soul, so that I could find my true self and what I truly believe in. I believe in the power of one human being.
He was just one human being, one man, and one soul. The difference was he was a man with a story, that may have only touched me this greatly out of every student in the room, but he was just a man. His story was just words. Any one human being can change the world if they want to hard enough, and this is why I believe. It wasn’t just Jerry Rawicki’s story; it was the presence he had within a room of people. It was his wisdom of life, his personal power that he had to live and rebel against German rule that made me believe that one human being could make a difference. I feel that I know more about myself and my heart from this one human beings power. I will never forget Jerry Rawicki’s personal power that affected me physically and emotionally. I believe in the power of one human being.