Wallkill Valley Times Mar. 23 2016 | Page 3

3 Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, March 23, 2016 Holocaust survivor shares message of hope in Pine Bush By CARL AIELLO [email protected] “Never to lose hope.” “Never to give up.” “Tomorrow is a new day.” The words of wisdom came to Pine Bush last Wednesday evening from Sami Steigmann,
a Holocaust survivor who addressed a gathering of about 200 in the high school auditorium. He offered words of wisdom and of hope. These days Steigmann lives in Manhattan, collecting $1,216 per month in disability payments and spending time talking to young people about his experiences. “I was born in three different countries,” he explained. He was born in Czernowitz. At the time it was part of Romania. At one time it was part of Austria Hungary. Today the region is part of the Ukraine. His father was born in Romania and returned to Transylvania after the war. From 1941 to 1944, the family was imprisoned in a Nazi camp. His parents told him he was near death when a kind German woman who brought food to the guards smuggled m [