30th Anniversary Guardians Commemorative Book - Book - Page 105
REPRESENTING
FAMILY LOST
My parents, Symcha
Fiszel and Basia Gurt,
were survivors from
Poland. They met in a
displaced persons camp in Germany,
Salzheim, after their liberation. I was
born in that camp in March 1948—a
‘miracle child’ born out of the ashes
of hundreds of my relatives. I was
my parents’ legacy, the one who
would carry the family forward and
represent all that was lost.
My parents came to this country
with practically nothing and
worked extremely hard to make the
‘American Dream’ come true for me
and for my sisters, Rosemary and
Jacqueline. Sam and Bess had many
scars from the war, both mental and
physical, so I dedicated my life to
easing their pain. I worked very hard
for them to be proud of me.
families in some way. Once the
United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum was built, I knew it was
the perfect venue. Essentially, I have
been saving almost my entire life so I
could make a significant contribution
to ensure that my parents’ names
would be inscribed there forever.
I will never forget my first visit to the
Museum with my son Aaron, walking
across the bridge with the engraved
glass wall. I stopped in the middle and
turned around. There in front of me,
at eye level, was my last name, Fiszel,
etched in the glass. I was stunned. At
that moment, with tears in my eyes,
I knew I had to support the Museum
in every way I could to educate
future generations about what
happened—not only to my family, but
to millions of other innocent people.
The Museum must exist to remind
mankind that genocide should never
happen again anywhere in the world.”
It was always important to me to
carry on my family’s legacy and to
make sure they were never forgotten.
So I decided many years ago to
memorialize my parents and their
SAFEGUARDING TRUTH FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS l 103
