Didaktische Handreichung
Leo Rechter
geb. 1927, USAA Message to Deniers
A Holocaust Survivor’s Lament by Leo Rechter
The scars seemed closed
The griefs reposed;
Your callous claim
Old wounds inflames – your brutish lie!
Our kin you slew
Meek infants too
Gone young and old
Six million told – now you deny!
Erstwhile deemed mild
The ache’s gone wild
Inside my chest
As anger crests – All senses cry!
Don’t near my face
My rage might blaze
My wrath might strike
Your evil psyche – don’t dare deny!
The true report
Don’t dare distort
Don’t let your lie
More hurts decry – don’t dare deny!
Leo Rechter was born in Vienna, Austria, and attended his first year of ‘Gymnasium’ when the Nazis invaded. After the Kristallnacht in November 1938, his family, including one younger sister, fled to Belgium where the Nazis eventually caught up with them. His father was deported and never returned; a baby brother was born two months later in 1942. At a relatively young age, Leo became the principal breadwinner of the family. They were repeatedly on the run: moved from one hiding place to
another, in back-alleys and sordid tenements. At one time they were actually caught by the Gestapo, but managed to escape.
After World War II, Leo went to Israel in 1950, where he spent 7 years. In 1957, he came to the United States.
Family members, who were murdered:
• Joseph David RECHTER, father• Adele HERSCHKOWITZ, aunt
• Jakob SCHUSS, grandfather
• Jakob WALDHÜTER, uncle
• Leizer SCHUSS, uncle
• Aaron SCHUSS, uncle
• Edith HERSCHKOWITZ, cousin
• Paula WALDHÜTER, cousin
• Bianca WALDHÜTER, cousin
• Fanny KOSUBSKI, cousin
• Gezer BLAUSTEIN, cousin
• and 6 other cousins named SCHUSS –
first names unknown
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