Born in Germany, as a young Jewish girl Judith Dim Evans was orphaned but survived the Holocaust, she went on to fight for Israel's independence, manage a refugee camp, and become Israel's youngest school principal.
She lived a remarkable life and devoted much of it to Holocaust education.
Judith Dim Evans
“Speak up and be responsible
for what you speak.
Continue to hope for a better world,
don’t give up, never lose hope.”
Judith Dim Evans. Larry Wood / Aiken Standard
An interview with Judith Dim Evans
Judith Dim Evans. Larry Wood / Aiken Standard
In January 2020 Judith Dim Evans shared her story of being a Jewish girl growing up in Nazi Germany during World War II in her talk, “Memoirs of a Holocaust Survivor,” at USC Aiken.
Fox54 reported on the event; you can see their interview with Judith on their website here.
Judith's mother was taken away by police and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp
“I took my brother by the hand, and we ran quickly to the police station. In front of the police station were young women with the Magen David. My mother was sitting on one side. I was running and shouting, ‘Mookie, Mookie.’ She stretched her hand out. I was trying to touch her hand. I can still feel it and see it today. I couldn’t reach her. I never saw her again.”
Following the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in 2018, Mike Ellis at the Anderson Independent Mail asked Judith Dim Evans, as a holocaust survivor, for her thoughts.
Here are a selection of her responses:
Q: What do you want people to know?
A: Learn about each other. If you will know who the other people are and what they believe, you will not be afraid. If you want to listen, to really listen to each other, have a conversation. There’s too much preaching in America. Everybody is a preacher and we don’t have conversations. There’s too much it’s all right or wrong. All dark or light. If they would live our lives with more open questions, our mind and our heart would be open.
Q: In the big picture of striving toward a better world, are we moving in the right direction?
A: I really think the world has made big progress, if we think of where were were 500 years ago, 100 years ago or 50 years ago. People are much more open and talk much more to each other. If people don’t go out to vote, they hurt. We have that voice in this world and we have to make our voice heard and feel it’s important enough for our voice to be heard. Words have consequences, not only deeds. Words have consequences and we’re using words too easily. Words are powerful. We think only physical acts are powerful. In today’s society, in America, I think we are using words too loosely.
Q: Anything else you wanted to make sure people hear, words of wisdom?
A: We teach the Holocaust we always say it: Speak up and be responsible for what you speak. And to not to lose hope. Continue to hope for a better world, don’t give up, never lose hope. Continue to fight for a better world. Hope for a better world but put it in action. For every person, actions matter and what you say matters and we have a voice.
Read the full article here.