“Hate is a Disease”
“Hate is a Disease”“Do something worthwhile with your life and do not just do for yourself, do for others.”
220 people packed the 1968 Suite at Accrington Stanley FC to listen to 95-year-old Holocaust Survivor and Fed My Voice Storyteller Ike Alterman BEM tell his powerful and emotional life story. Ike survived 4 Nazi concentration and death camps including Auschwitz – Birkenau & a death march. He came to the UK as one of the “Windermere Children.”
One guest said, “You created an evening we will never forget.”
The subsequent question and answer session was equally as compelling with the audience asking Ike questions such as:
“Do you hate all Germans?” – “No, if I hated all Germans I would be as bad as Hitler. I hate the Nazis but not all Germans. Hate is a disease.”
“How did you survive?” – “I don’t know. I lived day to day, not knowing if I would live or die. It was luck and I also believe my late mother (murdered by the Nazis in Treblinka) was by guiding angel.”
“How did your experiences affect your faith?” – “I question my belief in G-d. Where was He to allow all this to happen. But I was born a Jew and I will die a Jew.”
Ike was given a standing ovation at the end with many of those there ordering a copy of his My Voice life story book “Rest Their Souls.”
We were delighted to be joined by Antony Higginbottom MP and Sara Britcliffe MP along with Marc Levy from the Jewish Representative Council of Manchester and Regions.
A huge thank you must go to Accrington Stanley for hosting this talk and to everyone who attended.
