Introduction

Sami Steigman, was born on December 21st, 1939 in Czernowitz, Bukonovia, a city in Ukraine today. Sami Survived the horrors of the Holocaust. The Systematic murder of over 11 Million people with 6 Million of which being  Jewish. Sami is a public speaker and comes to many Middle/High Schools around the Country to tell his story and how the Holocaust changed his life in different ways then one. Recently, Pelham Middle School was able to have the opportunity to speak with Mr Steigman. He was given the opportunity to share his story. Students at Pelham Middle School had a mix of different emotions upon hearing his story. Gavin Mcgeever, a student at Pelham Middle School had this to say about Sami and his story “Honestly I thought he gave me really good life advice. Like to stay positive even when things go wrong.” Also, Sami said “A normal day for us would be someone else’s dream. “ Gavin talked about some things that he learned from Sami ,but one thing that every student could agree on is that in the end Mr Steigman was able to teach a different valuable lesson to every student in the room.

Sami’s Story

Sami Steigman is known for many things, being a hero for many, a father, but he is especially known for being a Holocaust Survivor. When someone hears the word “Survivor” you most likely think of someone being freed or saved like in a pirate movie, but for many survivors of any traumatic event the damage and trauma is irreversible. Sami likes to say that he wasn’t in the Holocaust or grouped with the people in it despite being there with every other Survivor. He says this because he was just a baby and has no recollection of what happened to him. This may leave you asking “Why is he a public Speaker then?” The answer would be he still feels the scars and damage about the Holocaust, but that’s not the only reason he speaks. Only a small portion of his life was even lived in Europe. The hardships he faced while in America are the things that he’s learned from and enjoys to teach kids all around America. While in the concentration camps, Sami was experimented on and throughout his life Sami was in great amounts of pain. To deal with this physical pain, Sami began to take painkillers which influenced his life negatively. When Sami arrived in America, he was betrayed by the people he thought were his “Friends” and was left homeless. Throughout all this, he found a love in wrestling and began to speak publicly about his life. Today, Sami has been all around America sporting his colorful ties and even more colorful personality changing people’s lives as he goes.

A New Outlook

Sami told the students at Pelham Middle School lots of information about his life. During a portion of his explanation Sami talks about an event that saved him. While being tested on Sami was extremely starved and was showing signs of being close to death. As he was crying a woman saw him. This woman not only risked her life, but her family’s as well just to give him milk. When Sami grew up he learned about the story and it gave him hope. Sami reiterates this story with the same message every time. Sami teaches and speaks about many different things, but the one that really stuck out to students was when Sami said “no matter how bad you have it, somebody would want to be in your shoes.” Throughout the interviews with students this message constantly popped up and shows how the things Sami says and teaches stick with many students and people for a long time.