Ilana Lindenblatt

There were other yeshivas that were more focused on their students' prospects for success, and a few of my classmates became doctors and lawyers. Hey, maybe it was a fine high school, and I was just a terrible student, which I absolutely was. I did fail several classes and had to take something called business math twice.

There were other yeshivas that were more focused on their students' prospects for success, and a few of my classmates became doctors and lawyers. Hey, maybe it was a fine high school, and I was just a terrible student, which I absolutely was. I did fail several classes and had to take something called business math twice.

But I recently joked to a group of fellow alumni that one of the best parts of Hamilton for me was not knowing how it would end. And nobody didn't know what I was talking about. It wasn't until adulthood that I realized that there was an official Holocaust Remembrance Day. Because it always felt just like a rolling year-round thing. And it kind of was.

But I recently joked to a group of fellow alumni that one of the best parts of Hamilton for me was not knowing how it would end. And nobody didn't know what I was talking about. It wasn't until adulthood that I realized that there was an official Holocaust Remembrance Day. Because it always felt just like a rolling year-round thing. And it kind of was.

There was Holocaust Remembrance Day in January, yes, but also Yom HaShoah in the spring. And in November, the commemoration of Kristallnacht, which is the event that is acknowledged as the official beginning of the Holocaust, the night that the windows of Jewish businesses, homes, and synagogues were smashed by Nazis while the German authorities looked on without intervening.

There was Holocaust Remembrance Day in January, yes, but also Yom HaShoah in the spring. And in November, the commemoration of Kristallnacht, which is the event that is acknowledged as the official beginning of the Holocaust, the night that the windows of Jewish businesses, homes, and synagogues were smashed by Nazis while the German authorities looked on without intervening.

It was also later than any of us would like to acknowledge that I realized Nazi hunting, a field I believe I had the natural talents to dominate, might be an industry in decline. I was not a good enough math student to have considered that all the Nazis would be dead by now. The Holocaust was the water in which we swam, invisible to us, but there we were, sopping wet.

It was also later than any of us would like to acknowledge that I realized Nazi hunting, a field I believe I had the natural talents to dominate, might be an industry in decline. I was not a good enough math student to have considered that all the Nazis would be dead by now. The Holocaust was the water in which we swam, invisible to us, but there we were, sopping wet.

I remembered a poem that Alana wrote for school when she was 10, in response to an assignment that asked her to occupy the point of view of a child in the Holocaust. Her poem was called Death, and it began with the lines, I feel death coming, and so do the people around me.

I remembered a poem that Alana wrote for school when she was 10, in response to an assignment that asked her to occupy the point of view of a child in the Holocaust. Her poem was called Death, and it began with the lines, I feel death coming, and so do the people around me.

It ended with its narrators hearing the footsteps of Nazis, being grabbed by the arm, tied up and pushed against a wall and shot. It was signed, Ilana Lindenblatt, age 10. And her parents enlarged it, framed it, and hung it in the living room.

It ended with its narrators hearing the footsteps of Nazis, being grabbed by the arm, tied up and pushed against a wall and shot. It was signed, Ilana Lindenblatt, age 10. And her parents enlarged it, framed it, and hung it in the living room.

Anyway, years later, years after I would crash the Lindenblatt's Shabbat dinners or show up in my car to take Ilana to the local diner, years after dancing at his daughter's weddings and serving as a bridesmaid in one of them, I became a writer. And Mr. Lindenblatt began asking Alana to ask me to tell his story of survival during the Holocaust in any of the magazines or newspapers I wrote for.

Anyway, years later, years after I would crash the Lindenblatt's Shabbat dinners or show up in my car to take Ilana to the local diner, years after dancing at his daughter's weddings and serving as a bridesmaid in one of them, I became a writer. And Mr. Lindenblatt began asking Alana to ask me to tell his story of survival during the Holocaust in any of the magazines or newspapers I wrote for.

He took pride in telling his story, in making sure he fulfilled what he felt was the obligation of all Holocaust survivors, which was to remind the world what had happened to the Jews. Alana knew it was a long shot, but felt obligated to pass on the request. It was her father, after all. I would decline and make my excuses. It's not good to write about your friends, for one thing.

He took pride in telling his story, in making sure he fulfilled what he felt was the obligation of all Holocaust survivors, which was to remind the world what had happened to the Jews. Alana knew it was a long shot, but felt obligated to pass on the request. It was her father, after all. I would decline and make my excuses. It's not good to write about your friends, for one thing.

For another, it's not the kind of article I do. I would tell her about all the people who are good at ghostwriting memoirs, Holocaust ones in particular even, and say I was happy to share a name or make an introduction. And all of that was true. But none of it was why I said no. I said no because by then, I was all Holocausted out.

For another, it's not the kind of article I do. I would tell her about all the people who are good at ghostwriting memoirs, Holocaust ones in particular even, and say I was happy to share a name or make an introduction. And all of that was true. But none of it was why I said no. I said no because by then, I was all Holocausted out.

I can't say what my precise breaking point was vis-a-vis the Holocaust, but here's a story I think about from that time. I went to see Schindler's List on its opening weekend at a theater in Tel Aviv, near where I was spending my gap year. Afterward, I overheard some tattooed Holocaust survivors casually compare the conditions conveyed in the movies with the conditions they remembered.

I can't say what my precise breaking point was vis-a-vis the Holocaust, but here's a story I think about from that time. I went to see Schindler's List on its opening weekend at a theater in Tel Aviv, near where I was spending my gap year. Afterward, I overheard some tattooed Holocaust survivors casually compare the conditions conveyed in the movies with the conditions they remembered.