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Staff writer
Thanks to an eighth-grader’s perseverance, a Holocaust survivor now living in California will deliver a message of tolerance and hope next week at a local community event.
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 Holocaust survivor Peter Fischl of Chino Hills, Calif., will speak about his life in the ghetto and lessons he learned during the Holocaust. The free event is Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m., at Spring Lake Park High School’s Fine Arts Center. (Photo submitted)
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It all started when Natasha Powell, 12, a student in Spring Lake Park District 16’s Lighthouse Program for gifted learners, read Elie Wiesel’s “Night.”
The experience prompted her to look more deeply into the Holocaust.
Her research led her to a survivor of Hitler’s rule, Peter Fischl, 79, of Chino Hills, Calif., who will speak at Spring Lake Park High School’s Fine Arts Center, Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Fischl was a young boy when Hungarian Jews were being rounded up and killed during World War II. Unlike his father and millions of others, Fischl survived.
“I’m speaking so there should be no hatred in this world and this should never, ever happen again,” Fischl said when reached by phone at his California home.
“It’s not just for the Jewish race,” he said. “It could be Catholic. It could be Muslim, Mexican or black men.”
Natasha was inspired by a poem Fischl wrote called “To the Little Polish Boy Standing with His Arms Up.”
The poem’s creation was sparked by a photo Fischl saw in Life Magazine of a terrified young boy in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943 – a German soldier standing behind him with rifle poised.
The photo haunted Fischl for years. Years later, he wrote the poem.
Since 1994, he has dedicated his life to spreading the word of tolerance. He speaks in high schools, colleges, churches, synagogues and at various community venues.
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Holocaust survivor
Peter Fischl
of California
will speak Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m.
Fine Arts Center at SLP High School
The public is invited. Free.
The school is located at 1100 81st Ave. N.E. in Spring Lake Park. |
Natasha raised $2,500 to bring Fischl to Minnesota. She was not put off by the task of fund-raising nor those who doubted she could come up with the amount.
“I thought, I’ll show them,” she said.
She contacted businesses and religious institutions.Ultimately, she received a donation from Sam’s Club of Fridley and a grant from the district’s Panther Foundation to sponsor the event.
Fischl, the evening of Nov. 17, will lecture on his life in the ghetto and lessons he learned from the Holocaust.
Still, he delivers a message of hope.
“I believe if you want to be a Pulitzer Prize winner that you can be,” he said.
“You have to feel it and be focused and do it. If you fall on your face, get up and continue doing it.”
For more information on Fischl visit www.peterfischl.com.
Elyse Kaner is at
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