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Montezuma Speech tells Holocaust story
The Montezuma High School Speech Choral Reading production of the “Lucky Ones” was more than an All-State performance. It was a history lesson based on a true story of a concentration camp survivor.
Written by Dianne Singleton of Montezuma, the production is about Dr. Edith Eva Eger a Hungarian born Jewish girl. In 1944, at age 16, Eger and her sister Magda survived life in Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.
Singleton wrote the production after reading Edith’s memoir, “The Choice,” published in 2017.
Edith was born in 1927 in Kosice, Slovakia, where she lived with her parents and two older sisters, Magda and Klara.
According to Edith’s story, her family moved to Budapest, Hungary, and it was there that German Nazi soldiers came into the family’s home, forced them to stuff a few belongings into one suitcase and board a cattle train car to Auschwitz.
Klara, a violin player, was hidden by her music professor and was not taken by the Nazis.
“Only Edith and her sister, Magda, survived, as her mother was killed upon arrival at the concentration camp,” said Singleton.
At Auschwitz, Edith was forced by Nazi officer Dr. Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death, to dance for his amusement, which helped save her life.
A few months later, Edith was placed in full prisoner garb and loaded on top of a munitions train as a human shield to keep the British from bombing the train. She was taken to Poland where she and Magda joined the death march to Germany.
Edith was eventually saved by American soldiers and spent six months in a baby crib to regain her full strength. She later married and moved to the United States.
“The details of her story are so incredible,” said Singleton. They (Edith and Magda) were two of 100 who survived the death march, out of 18,000 prisoners.”
For several years, Montezuma Speech Director Liesl Roorda had been talking about doing a choral reading based on the Holocaust, Singleton said.
Singleton spent about a year reading memoirs and books about concentration camp survivors. She came across “The Choice” in September of last year.
After reading the book, Singleton reached out to Edith via email and asked for permission to tell her story as a choral reading production for high school speech. It took Singleton about three weeks to write and edit the production.
“I took the details of her miraculous story of survival from the death camps and turned it into the choral reading production,” said Singleton.
The production featured Bryn Fantazia, Claire Erselius, Faith Ferry, Gracie Wilson, Isabella Roorda, Kaya Latcham, Letisia Wilson, Lily Shoemaker, Lydia Singleton, Madison Van Zee, Mya Smothers, Taylor Wilcox, Jayden Doll and Eli Smothers.
Singleton said the students were very humbled and moved by the experience because Dr. Edith Eger, who is 96 today, is still alive.
“They watched her YouTube videos of her experiences, and they were inspired and moved by her story,” she said.
Edith became a psychologist. During her career, she worked with soldiers who had PTSD and helped them learn to forgive.
“She is such a great person,” said Singleton. “That was the kind of person who the students learned from and acted out her story. It was pretty amazing.”
Roorda, who played Edith, said the choral reading production was a good way to show what happened during that time.
“It was a symbol of remembrance, and I am really glad to be a part of it,” said Roorda. “I’m glad we have coaches who put so much effort into the student body.”
“This has been so important for me because it is a heavy subject,” said Latcham. “It’s important to bring attention to the Holocaust and to keep history alive.”
“I remember when we started practice,” said Fantazia. “It was an eye opener. It put us into a new perspective on how people were treated in concentration camps.”
Fantazia said it was a fun experience. “It was also great to spread the message of what really happened,” she said.
“I thought it was a lot of fun,” said Smothers. “It was a big eye opener to how the people where treated. It gave us a feeling of what it would have been like had we been alive then.
“With all the talent of the people in the production, it made it a real experience,” said Smothers.
Singleton said she plans to send Eger a video of the production as a gift for allowing the speech program to share her story.
When asked what she loves about being a speech coach, Singleton said she loves inspiring the next generation in their creative gifts.
“It is a wonderful experience to watch the students grow in confidence and skills,” she said.
Singleton has been working with the speech program as a coach for about six years. In addition to speech director Liesel Roorda, Kelly Kaup, who directs the fall musical at Montezuma, also works as a speech coach.
