"I am angry at war..." ~Shigeko Sasamori

Mrs. Shigeko Sasamori, survivor of the attack on Hiroshima in 1945, just shared with us in the library. An amazing woman. With extensive 3rd degree burns over much of her body and her face permanently disfigured, her message was the complete opposite of vengeance. The main message she wants to share with us all and for us to share with others, by extension: 

Be happy. Be good to each other. Happiness leads to social promotion, not war. 

Any type of physical fighting is a type of "war," leading to larger War. 

War should be avoided at all costs. 

Smile. Love one another. 

Appreciate your family. Appreciate your friends. 

Mrs. Sasamori instinctively, yet very conscientiously, hugged each of us. A warm embrace. 

We are all within the arms of the very nation that bombed her country mercilessly in those waning days of the Second World War.

Yet, Mrs. Sasamori tells us: Why should I be angry with you? "It was not YOU. 

I am angry at war."

**Look up 1950's film "Children of Hiroshima" to see Mrs. Sasamori.**

Conversation With Jacob Czerniak, 102 year old Holocaust Survivor, Part I

Conversations with Jacob Czerniak, 102 year old survivor of Auschwitz-Chelmno-Bergen Belsen concentration camps, Part I:

This conversation took place on Sunday, April 21st, 2013 with me in The Bronx, New York. Words in [ ] brackets indicate my additions/notes. I've attempted to quote Jacob as much as possible, in his direct words. Please read future updates with more of Jacob's tragic but, ultimately, triumphant story...

Jacob, as he prefers to be called, served in the Polish army from 1935-1937. He was drafted into service. One of his four brothers, two years younger, served in Jacob's regiment and battalion. However, Jacob served in company two, while his brother served in company three. His brother was later killed in war.

"I saw him the night before he was killed. They went to push out German invaders. The next night I was wounded." Jacob took shrapnel behind his ear, in his left thumb, and in his arm.

"Hitler invaded Poland September 1st, 1939."
[I wanted to quote that to illustrate the impeccability of Jacob's memory.]

"I didn't know how bad I was injured. I took the shovel," put it by my head, for cover.

"In '33 when Hitler came to power 'till '39, he was five times stronger than America. I was taken as a prisoner of war (POW), to a POW camp: Stalag, in Germany. [I need to confirm name of camp.]

I was writing letters home...I think it (camp) was in East Germany. After half a year since we came to the camp, they took the Jew soldiers, separated from the Christian soldiers...the war was still going on...
They (Nazis) took France, Belgium, Holland. They took the whole of Europe. After half a year in the camp, they released Jewish POW's, because soldiers have some right according to convention of...[war].

They released Jew soldiers. I went to Debien--my town [in Poland]--it was a ghetto. You know ghetto? Ghetto? I was, I was, a short time home. Then they took us to a slave camp. They took out young people from 16-50 and they was building a new railroad--Reichsautobahn, a new road from Frankfurt to Poland (not Frankfurt am Mein--the other Frankfurt). They think Hitler building the country for a thousand years."
[I need to find out if it was a road for automobiles or a railroad for trains.]

"We got two meals a day, in the morning to wake us up. 6:00-7:00, we was marching and work 'till 5:00-6:00, we left the work. We went home, back to the barracks, the camp. We got a soup--a bowl of soup. From there we was marching 5-6 kilometers [approx. 3-4 miles] back and forth to work. So many people died there. Terrible. From hunger, starvation, beating. They punished... very, very bad with beating. A dog had more right than we had...no right at all. They could kill you, okay. They hanged so many people."

[I need to confirm the name of this concentration camp.]

April 7th "AM New York" Newspaper Article Featuring HSLI !

We made the paper (and website)! Please see the link below and segments I excerpted from the larger article regarding eight high schools in NYC with "creative programs"...

http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/nyc-high-schools-a-look-at-creative-programs-across-the-city-1.5025168

In New York City, there’s tons of options for teens when it comes to picking a high school. The city boasts more than 400 schools; many have quirky or out-of-the-box curriculum. While many pride themselves strictly on rigorous academics, others are tailored toward specific interests or careers.

The Department of Education encourages students to start considering high schools as early as the sixth grade, so we’ve compiled a list — it’s by no means exhaustive — of some of the city’s interesting and lesser-known high schools.

High School for Language and Innovation, 925 Astor Ave., Bronxwood, 718-944-3625, languagehs.schoolwires.net
Public, approx. 195 students

This Bronx school was founded in 2011 and uses dual-certified and ESL teachers to teach nonnative English speakers who’ve been in the country for less than four years. Native English speakers also attend. Principal Julie Nariman blends all of the students together.

“It works beautifully,” she said. “Schools get too obsessed with levels. There’s this idea that creating separate levels leads to more learning when it really doesn’t.

Powerful communication happens every day in New York City between people who speak different languages.”