".....In such moments words can neither explain nor can they measure the entire scope of agony and violence, not even if one gets a personal guide on a 5 hours walk through the concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Some days later Bernard showed us his ‘locations of experience’, where he was interned in 1944. And one can observe it: the past leaves traces in the present. When entering the wooden barack no.5, his former ‘home’, he makes diffident steps and explains restrained: “I had many angels, that helped me. I never looked an SS into his eyes. Only once to a german soldier, who turned his look to the other side.” And: “Everything goes on.”
Marianne Heinzlmeier
Germany
".....It is now nearly 2 years ago, that I met Bernard Offen the first
and last time in my life. But I remember clearly some situations of
this walk, which was leading us from the inner city over the Wisla river to the former ghetto and on to the nearly lost site of the KZ
Plaszow. He was telling us about the houses he lived in, close to a
chocolate factory, the places where he got food in the Jewish
ghetto. The life of his family in days when they were in a
relatively pleasant situation. And the day when he came back home
from a trip outside the ghetto and everything had changed. His mother and sister were deported."
Jakob Steiner
Germany
".....My son, Aaron and I met Bernard in Honolulu. We were looking forward to seeing Bernard again in Poland and although I knew he would be taking us through the camps in Aushwitz, I was not sure how Aaron, (16 years old at the time), would react to the experience. Although my Mother was a survivor and through her stories, I had an intimate acquaintance with the horrors of that time, I still was not prepared for our tour with Bernard.
We took a sponsored tour which gave us the numbers and the statistics of the camp and showed us all the horrors of daily camp life. After this tour, Bernard met us and very slowly and deliberately walked us through his life at the age of 12 in the concentration camp. My immediate recollection is sadness; sadness that Bernard has to live with the horrific memories of that time. It’s hard for me to understand why he and other survivors continue to relive the most despicable memories no one could ever imagine. With great detail, Bernard was able to give Aaron and me a minute by minute, hour by hour, week by week description of his life. At each stop, we could see the pain and suffering in his eyes, the weakness in his voice, and most importantly his memory replaying that time of his life.
As many tears as we shed that day, I could not phantom Bernard’s ability to explain all the details to Aaron. He was especially focused on helping Aaron understand how a 12 year old had to live under the conditions of the concentration camp. In my mind, there was no substitute for what Bernard was able to do for Aaron and me that day. The contrast between the sponsored tour and Bernard’s personal history was like night and day. One was factual and historical; the other was personal and gut wrenching. Because of Bernard and my mother, I am now carrying the torch of “Holocaust education” to help in making this tragedy never happen again."
Seymour Kazimirski
Global Consulting Company
".....My husband and I had the opportunity to walk the Krakow ghetto and the camps at Auschwitz with Bernard. It was a privilege to have the direct experience of these places which hold such an intensity of human experience ...to hear Bernard speak of the joys of everyday life........the smell of challah baking for Shabbat and chocolate from the factory near his home......mixed with the awareness that in this very same place at another moment in time a small boy comes home ..after stealing out of the confines of the ghetto to get bread only to find his sister and mother have been taken away..........for me this is the embodiment of healing...the capacity to
experience and hold these images .....to come into correct relationship with the incomprehensible as well as the comprehensible."
N.K. Rosen