Family time -- Steve Smith

Consider these diverse elements of a news story that never was. Tan

Michael Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American student at Mater Dei High School,

a Catholic high school in Santa Ana. On March 1, he was awarded first

place in the high school essay division of Chapman University’s third

annual Holocaust Writing Contest for his story of Aristedes de Sousa

Mendes, a Portuguese diplomat who issued visas that helped saved the

lives of thousands of Jews during World War II.

You may have heard about the heroics of de Sousa Mendes but until

right now you would never have known about Nguyen, his award or the

annual contest. That’s because despite the efforts of the Chapman

University public relations department, only one media organization chose

to send a representative to cover this landmark Orange County event.

As a last minute fill-in, fate put me at Chapman University as that

representative.

While the rest of the Orange County’s media was busy trying to make

Measure W out to be a close call instead of the slam dunk that it was,

and while they presented to us over and over again the identical twins

that were the Republican choices for governor, they missed the story of

the year thus far.

Had they been at Chapman University on March 1, the local media would

have heard Irene Gut Opdyke who, as the Jewish housemaid for a German

officer, hid 12 Jews in the basement of his house. With Opdyke’s help,

all 12 survived. In an era when the term “victim” is used far too

casually, Opdyke truly qualifies for the title. Yet, she denied her

audience any such pity and proclaimed that day that “Hate never solved

anything.”

Had the media been at Chapman, they would have heard Leon Leyson, the

youngest survivor of “Schindler’s list,” tell the story of his brother,

Tsalig, who refused Schindler’s railway station offer of safety and chose

instead to accompany his girlfriend to a death camp because he did not

want her to be alone. There, they were both murdered by Nazis. More than

60 years later, Leyson still cannot tell his brother’s story without

tears in his eyes.

It was also hard to listen without tears in the eyes.

But most important, the media missed the chance to see some of the

best and brightest middle and high school students in our county mingle

with and honor the bravest in the Southland, for there were several

members of “1939 Club,” death camp survivors, among the audience. These

are people whose courage and will to live must be a benchmark for the

rest of us. The generations collided that day as both young and old

helped ensure that we never forget what a government unchecked may

unleash on its citizens.

Some of those best and brightest were from Corona del Mar High School.

Anna Cheong, Alissa Yamazaki and senior student Natalia Sebag submitted

entries for consideration by the judges. Sebag wrote about her

grandmother, who is a Holocaust survivor.

“My grandmother had to hide in nunneries pretending to be a Catholic

girl,” Sebag told me. “She called the nuns her ‘angels.”’

The young people present at Chapman that day represent the last

generation that will hear the holocaust testimonials directly from the

lips of the victims. I applaud our three Corona del Mar students for

their initiative and involvement in this contest.

Marilyn Harran is the director of the Rodgers Center for Holocaust

Education at Chapman. In a conversation after the awards ceremony, Harran

told me that she has run into apathy over her subject because, her

contacts told her, they were “Holocausted out,” a comment that concerns

me because it sounds more like a hip buzzword than a legitimate reason

to forget one of the most tragic events in human history.

This is a time when our leaders must be very careful about maintaining

the balance between ensuring domestic tranquillity and preserving the

right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Read the newspaper

and you will see story after story about Americans being released from

jails, held for crimes they did not commit, and of people of Middle East

descent or appearance who have been released from federal custody because

it was eventually determined that they had no connections whatsoever to

any terrorist organization. Like the Jews and other oppressed ethnic

groups across East Europe during World War II, they were turned in by

people who had no evidence, only suspicion.

Even at her young age, Sebag understood the importance of Holocaust

remembrance: “I think it’s important because part of our heritage is to

pass on knowledge so that we don’t make the same mistakes.”

We owe the debt of Holocaust remembrance to our children. I am only a

part-time journalist, but I have a full-time conscience and to the local

media, I am compelled to state only three words: You blew it.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. Readers

may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at (949) 642-6086.