Robert O. Fisch is a native of Budapest, Hungary and a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. He completed medical school in Hungary, and came to America in 1957. Dr. Fisch became a medical intern and eventually a professor in pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. He studied art in Hungary and the United States. For decades, Dr.Fisch’s feelings about the Holocaust and his experience were a private matter. Now he shares his story openly through his art and in many classrooms so that others might learn from the past. His first book, Light from the Yellow Star: A Lesson of Love from the Holocaust, tells how he came to understand the power of love and freedom. His second book, Dear Dr. Fisch, is a collection of letters from students who have heard Dr. Fisch speak of his experiences. What follows is an excerpt from the introduction to his second book.

How did it happen, then, that it became something that I talk about over and over again? In 1989 I offered to design cover illustrations for Minnesota Medicine magazine. I was told they needed a Holocaust illustration for an article about an ethics meeting discussing the use of experiments from Nazi concentration camps. 

I thought for a long time. Who could artistically express the magnitude of human suffering and the horror of the Holocaust? Beethoven, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci? I certainly felt inadequate and unqualified for such a task. Eventually I realized that if I didn’t do it, someone else would. So I accepted. 

After I finished, the editor asked if I would write an article about my own experience in the camps. That was very painful and hard to do. I wanted to express a feeling, rather than tell a story. I selected quotations from the Bible, which are carved on the walls in the Jewish Memorial Cemetery for the Martyrs in Budapest: "they were killed by hatred; their memory is kept alive in love." "I cried out against the brutality, but no one listened." "Even death could not come between us." "Even the stones weep." 

When the October issue of Minnesota Medicine appeared, my Nordic colleagues at the University of Minnesota Hospital did not respond with the usual Swedish and Norwegian reserve. Many of them hugged me and cried. 

A few weeks later the illustration appeared in the Minneapolis Tribune and Mrs. Candy Ames, an educator from Pine City, Minnesota, called and asked if I would give some lectures in her school. Although I had never even heard of Pine City, it became a turning point in my life. 

On the first evening I talked to seven parents in small library. I said that when the Nazis occupied Hungary, I was working in the country division of the Jewish Council. One day, a very excited man came to talk to the head of the division. His behavior was so unusual that I was curious and stayed inside the door after I let him in. 

He described the first loading of the Jews into boxcars: they were jammed shoulder to shoulder, squeezed together, without food or water, with only the clothes on their backs. The doors were locked from the outside and the trains were heading toward an unknown destination. 

When I heard about the brutality it became clear to me that the Nazis wanted to kill us. This changed my attitude completely. Until then I was afraid of the air raids. Now I realized that either the Nazis would kill us or they would lose the war. From then on I wasn’t afraid of the bombs. In fact, they made me euphoric. They brought me a step closer to my survival. 

After my speech a gentleman stood up and said: "Dr. Fisch, I am so grateful to you." He was a bombardier over Budapest and had always felt guilty about killing innocent people. Now he saw that his actions also had another purpose. He had never told his family about his experience in the war. I later learned that he had finally opened up and talked to them. 

The next day I talked to different classes. One student watched my speech very intently. When I finished, she stood up and said, "Dr. Fisch, I’m a visiting Danish student. I thank you very much for your speech. My grandparents saved a Jewish family, and now I know what that really meant." 

After watching me in the classroom that day, Mrs. Ames said, "Your stories have such an impact on the students, why don’t you write a book?" 

So that’s the way it happened. I called the book Light from the Yellow Star; A Lesson of Love from the Holocaust. 

A lesson of love? How can anyone suggest learning love from the Holocaust? By remembering not just the horror but also the beauty created by human virtue and enlightened by the suffering spirit. 

What would those silent millions ask of us now? To hate and be unforgiving (the very qualities that led to their demise)? No, I believe they would want us to have understanding, compassion, and love. 

…When I talk to students, I do so not to emphasize what the Nazis did with the Jews, but rather, how those events might apply to how students live and relate to others today. To be respected you have to respect others. Stand up for your principles, because compromise is the first step toward actions you eventually regret. The only change you can expect in this life is the change you are personally able to make. 

To order Dear Dr. Fisch, call 866–632–7467. Excellent classroom materials, including books, lesson plans, and video of Dr. Fisch are available. To find out more about these materials and Dr. Fisch go to www.yellowstarfoundation.org.

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