Holocaust survivor shares story

Life, Herman Snyder says, is precious.

"The most important thing we have is our lives," he said.

That's the message that he takes to audiences when he speaks of escaping the Holocaust during World War II.

The 90-year-old Pittsburgh resident spoke to Washington High School students Tuesday.

He took them back decades, recalling how World War II began and how he got to the United States.

He was born in Poland in a small town, where everyone knew one another.

No one - not his mother, father, brother, sister or any one else in the town - had any idea of the atrocities to come, Snyder said.

He was a teen when the Germans arrived in 1941. For about a month, everything was fine. Then, they were forced into a ghetto about 21 kilometers away.

His mother asked Snyder to remain so the family would deal with whatever happened together.

"Two and half months later, I did run away," he said. "For over two years, I was on the run."

Everyone left behind, almost 1,900 people, including his parents and siblings, were shot and buried in one grave, he said.

Snyder said he was always going east trying to get to the Soviet Union. Over time, he banded together with 11 others who also were trying to escape.

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"We didn't have anything to eat for days," he said. "We had to stay in the woods."

Sometimes, they would run into people who would help them. Other times, they ran into people who would try to turn them in since the authorities gave money to those who turned in Jews.

Eventually, they made it to the Soviet Union. Three joined the army to fight against the Germans. Snyder made boxes for bombs to go to the front lines.

While he was there, he saw a Russian girl walking in the market with three kinds of cheese. He asked her for a piece of cheese - a conversation-starter that eventually led to marriage and a family.

In 1946, they returned to Poland for a short time before going to Czechoslovakia and then Germany.

He came to Mount Pleasant in 1949 and has lived in the United States since.

Snyder thought he would see his parents again after the war, but that was not to be.

However, he said, he doesn't seek revenge because hatred only destroys those who feel that emotion. People shouldn't think they are better than others, Snyder said.

"We should always live to help each other, because no one lives forever," he told the audience, who gave him a standing ovation. "People who love live a better life."