a letter to the stars

You want to insert your thoughts into our guestbook?

You do wonderful work ...

Now I want to tell you how very moved I was by the entire event und how much I admire your project of enligthening the young people of Austria of the dark years 1938-1945.

Meeting Josef L. und the lovely Carina K. was an exhilarating experience. We spent many hours together and became very close friends.
I think the work you started will go a long way to fight hatred and prejudice. By the personal contact with "Survivors" it becomes clear to them that the hatred and prejudice is like a cancer that harms not only the people who are hated but perhaps even more so the individuals who hate. It never fails that the dictators throughout history are in the end defeated.
You do wonderful work and I want you to know how very much I appreciate it.
Viele sehr gute Wünsche, Stella K. H

It makes me feel proud and happy

With my son`s help I did access what Elke wrote about me. I wrote her complementing her on the superb job she did. I encouraged her to stay in touch and I hope we will remain friends. I cannot think of a better way to bring hope for the future and a better world, I think people like you, the sponsors of the project and of course the student paricipants are all to be commended for undertaking this most important task. It makes me feel proud  and happy to have been able to participate. I wish you much luck and success in your future endeavors. Best wishes. Lily P

We were all very moved ...

Dear Lukas,

On behalf of the children and faculty of our Rodeph Sholom Day School, I would like to again thank you for visiting with us yesterday.  You made this special day of remembering all those lost in the Holocaust especially powerful. By sharing with us what you learned about this terrible time in history and your interest in learning more  about Gerta’s personal story, we were all very moved. Gerta`s description of what you brought in the “Memory Box” showed sincere  effort on your part  of relating to this terrible time and trying to understand the tragedy of what happens when people treat those of a different race or religion in a subhuman way.

We all felt very encouraged by your presence in terms of the future. You were a wonderful role-model for our children and our teachers were most impressed with you. Your school, family and Austria should feel very proud of you as well as the other participants in the “Letters To The Stars” program who are willing to learn from history and be ambassadors of remembrance. I personally have high expectations for you and feel confident that you will one day in the near future rise to a position of leadership and exert a positive role in whatever path you choose to take.

I would like to share this letter with the Head of you school, coordinator of the “Letter To The Stars” program and an official in your government. Would you send me the appropriate names and email addresses of those concerned so that I may do so.

On a personal note I have never visited Austria. To be quite frank I always felt it would be an unwelcome place for someone Jewish like myself to tour. However, having met you, I am now encouraged to one day soon visit your country and see what I always pictured as a beautiful place but felt a contradiction in terms of its people. If you are an example of today’s Austrian, I would like to visit in the near future and see for myself the land that gave us so many things we hold highly today.

Keep in touch, Pearl Glassberg