Yona Dickmann

Just outside the entrance to the permanent exhibit, two ladies sat at a simple table, smiling and waiting to visit and answer questions. Yona Dickmann, seen here, spoke with us for perhaps twenty minutes, answering questions and sharing memories. A survivor of Auschwitz who lost her entire family, she is today a delightful lady who made our visit all the more poignant and memorable.
After she recalled a soup made with water and a single potato and expected to feed ten, she was asked if she thinks about those things every day, all these years later. No, she said, she does not dwell on the memories.
"But I never throw food away, never," she added. Even after all these years. We felt fortunate to be granted time to visit with this wonderful lady, the epitome of survivor. She became one of the two most powerful memories we will retain from our week in Washington. The other will come up in a later post.