1998

Holocaust Speaker Influenced By Nazi Persecution

By Richard Sichley

Sonia Levitin, award-winning author of mystery novels and books for children, spoke about the influence of Nazi persecution on her writing Thursday evening, Oct. 3 in the ASUN Auditorium.

University students and faculty members as well as local high school students and visiting scholars from Europe attended Levitin's address. The speech, entitled "Encounter with Evil," focused on how oppression impacted her work and on the educational aspects of her writing.

Levitin, a Jew, was born in Berlin during Hitler's rise to power and emigrated with her family to the United States in the late 1930s. Much of her work is based on the plight of Jewish people during World War II, but many of her stories also address current issues of oppression.

Levitin recounted her experiences and read excerpts from her books to illustrate her main points. She began her speech with a passage from her novel, "Journey to America" which told of a German family being torn apart by the fascist regime.

The father and mother quarrel about the best way to escape Germany and ultimately decide that the father should go directly to America and arrange for the rest of the family to come later. Levitin said all of her books are somewhat autobiographical and that most novels are rooted in an author's experiences. She said that writing is her primary outlet and that it has helped her cope with difficult memories.

" Although writing is its own therapy, you should probably not expect others to read your work if it is purely therapeutic," she added.

Levitin said that one objective of her writing is to preserve the memory of Holocaust victims. While she was still very young, she learned that her grandmother died in Auschwitz. She said this personal loss taught her very early that "evil is irrational."

Another goal Levitin's work is to prevent occurrences like the Holocaust from being repeated. In passages from her book, "Evil Encounters," she said that at first she thought Nazis were normal humans, which made their actions more frightening.

"If ordinary people can create this horror, then we have to remember one thing: we are ordinary people too," Levitin said. "We have to recognize that we possess a darker side and we must consciously strive to keep it at bay."

Apathy is a major cause of evil, according to Levitin. "'Courage is a constant theme in my books," she said. "It is very important to me that the characters in my books speak out and get themselves involved."

Levitin said she would like to be remembered as a bridge that allows for better understanding between different people and generations. Without such links, she said, "history can repeat its darkness."

Meinhard Stark, audience member and visiting scholar from Berlin, spoke through an interpreter, saying, "By writing for children, Ms. Levitin is bringing a unique angle to Holocaust education. She is doing the right thing in writing about other persecutions. The Holocaust was not the last time injustice was done."