Delivered June 3, 2026 Columbia SC
NOTE: I began with this news, with the point being perhaps participants aren’t aware of what is happening around the US around antisemitism.
“In Santa Monica, California, last week, a Jewish couple was attacked by a man with a vicious dog and a baseball bat. Several weeks ago, synagogues and homes were vandalized with swastikas in New York City, and then a mob hostile to the Jewish state of Israel clashed with Jews outside a synagogue in Brooklyn. As disturbing as those incidents were, they paled in comparison to the fiery attack on a Michigan synagogue in April, the murder of two Israeli embassy staffers last May, and other violent crimes.”
NOTE: I shared this Elie Wiesel quote: “ to listen to a witness is to become a witness” Then I played back two short videos, one of Bluma and one of Felix. I noted that every time I speak to students, which I am often invited to do, I want them to know that these were real people, not something from a book.
I was pleased to learn that each of you have received a copy of April’s HOLOCAUST REMEMBERED magazine…mostly because on page 46, Dr. Williams referenced media literacy—something I’ve been teaching as a consultant for 25 years. He wrote: “media literacy has become equally essential particularly for digital natives who encounter the Holocaust”…and he goes on to say that “media literacy is necessary to combat misinformation.”
I hope you do teach MEDIA LITERACY.
I don’t need to tell you that those so-called “digital natives” are exposed to an EXPLOSION of AI-generated images and deepfakes… many of the Holocaust. My worry as a media literacy educator is that they may not recognize the fake, take the time to verify or fact check what they’re consuming, especially on social media.
A May survey by the anti-defamation league (ADL) found that antisemitic assaults in the US reached a record high last year. We know that antisemitism led to the Holocaust. Even more disturbing to me is that, of the hundreds of students I’ve spoken to, few if any can define antisemitism or propaganda….so I think there is more work to be done.
I am here this afternoon as author of WE SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST (and allow me now to thank Scott and Jeff for providing your all with a copy). I want you all to know that last Fall another version of the Goldberg story was published. It’s a narrative paperback entitled “Risk, Resilience and Redemption” and I wrote it after a school librarian suggested this version.
The graphic novel is not only the story of how the Bluma and Felix survived being slave laborers, but it also provides important context for the reader: what was happening in Germany that led up to the Holocaust.
When I first presented our book, 3 ½ years ago, to an audience at the Tree of Life synagogue here, I was pleasingly surprised that Dr. Eargle had already reviewed it.. He said and I quote:
As an instructional resource, it contextualizes the Holocaust;
it identifies the characteristics of facism and authoritarianism;
it infuses the story with Jewish culture AND
it presents a story of family. (thank you again Jeff)
I’ve heard from teachers who said: “Frank we have the Diary of Anne Frank and Elie Wiesel’s NIGHT, but now we have YOUR book and it is more meaningful BECAUSE it is a South Carolina story.”
You should know that with the royalites I have received from the sales of the graphic novel, we have now provided a copy for every middle school and high school library in the state. Copies were distributed at the last 4 annual school library conferences. Also the book has been translated into Spanish and we created a teacher guide to help educators better integrate it into instruction. (refer to handout)
Folks, I would not be standing here this afternoon, if it were not for the trust the GOLDBERG family put in me to tell their parents story. Among other things they loaned me a box that contained papers that had survived the war. In it I found the manifest of the ship that brought the family from Germany to New Orleans and then to Columbia. Searching online, I located a B&W silent film of the maiden voyage of the ship.
That film and other resources make up part of the educator website STORIESOFSURVIVAL.org. The website is divided into 3 parts: before the war; during the war; after the war. The site features an historical timeline as well as geographic maps indicating all of the locations mentioned in the book. Your students can watch both Felix and Bluma’s interviews with SCETV and the Shoah Foundation as well as access other education content.
We hope you and your students find it of value.
At this stage in my life, this has become a LABOR OF LOVE. Let me offer myself to you the teacher…if you see an opportunity for me to join you in the classroom and speak about the Goldbergs, about antisemitism and media literacy, please INVITE ME.
I will end here with a few quotes:
Bluma Goldberg said: We think that’s why we survived, so that we could tell the story.
Felix Goldberg said: I know they’re hearing it every year, but you have to remind them.
Finally, Elie Wiesel said “ to listen to a witness is to become a witness” Thank you and your students for becoming witnesses..
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