Holocaust survivor Judith Meisel spoke to a tearful crowd after screening \Tak for Alt,"" a documentary about her struggles and survival Monday evening at Hillel House. ""Tak for Alt,"" which means ""thanks for everything"" in Danish, followed Meisel as she retraced her steps from her home to the Kovno ghetto in Lithuania, to the Stutthof concentration camp in Poland and to her eventual freedom in Denmark.
""We went to various places where there were still people who remembered, especially the hospital when I was liberated in May of 1945, and I weighed 47 pounds and I was 16 years old,"" she said.
Meisel's experiences drew gasps from the crowd and audible cries throughout the documentary.
""So [my mother] took my hand and we went into the gas chamber,"" she said. ""There was a small room and we were told to get undressed, and we went over and there was a little step. I was on the outside and she was already past the step. [A guard] hit me and my mother pushed me ... And that was the last time I saw my mother.""
After the liberation of Denmark from Nazi control, Meisel and her sister were treated with care and love by many Danish families.
""I feel I owe my life to the Danes,"" Meisel said. ""They gave me back my life to live. But they also gave me back my self-esteem as a human being.""
Axel Christensen, a historian featured in the documentary and a member of the Danish resistance during World War II, explained the friendly attitudes Meisel encountered in Denmark.
""There never has been the animosity between the Danes and the Jews,"" Christensen said. ""They just fit in and they were citizens of Denmark. So when they were in trouble ... people went down to the fishermen and hired their boats to take Jewish people to Sweden.""
UW-Madison senior Jeff Fishbach said he felt strongly about maintaining awareness about the Holocaust.
""I think it's really important to keep the memory alive,"" Fishbach said.
Meisel said she feels a sense of urgency to tell her story to young people around the country.
""The deniers are out there,"" she said. ""They're out there in full force saying that this didn't happen. And in 15 or 20 years there won't be any of us left.\
