Hannah Holsten visited our school on Monday, March 18th and shared her story with the Pelham Middle School’s eighth grade. Holsten shared the stories of her once normal life, prior to the night of Kristallnacht, in which her life was turned upside down. Holsten lived in Nuremberg, Germany for a portion of her early life. Everything was great until the Nazis came on Kristallnacht, also known as the Night of Broken Glass, and everything she once knew became unfamiliar. Her life with her siblings and parents became unlike anyone could imagine. The Nazis destroyed everything they owned, and Hannah, her parents, and her siblings were rounded up and placed in an overnight jail. At the young age of 6, Hannah faced horrors that no one, especially someone that young, should ever have to face in their lifetime. Holsten went from coloring in her home, to being constantly on the run from the German officers for the next two years. Traveling all over Europe, hidden by smugglers, and eventually starting a new life in New York. Hannah shared the multiple accounts in which her life was saved by luck. An example is when she was hiding in hay whilst being transported to a new safehouse, when a person stuck their pitchfork through the hay she was in, to check if there was anyone being smuggled. Hannah was extremely lucky, as the pitchfork pierced the surrounding hay, but missed her. Hannah also shared how her family and current life is able to exist due to the luck and outcome of her journey. Questions surrounding her intentions of sharing her experiences and about her current life were brought up by students towards the end of her visit. She left the students with the message to always keep kindness in their hearts, as it is what saved her multiple times throughout the journey. Hannah shares her story with the intention to educate those of younger generations on the horrors of the Holocaust, in hopes to prevent such tragedy from reoccurring.