It began in 1942, when Michael Herskovitz was just 13-years-old. He started to notice the world around him drastically changing. German soldiers swarmed his villiage, Michael’s father lost the family’s grocery store, and then Michael was expelled from school. Within in weeks, Mr. Herskovitz, his parents and four siblings were forced to wear the yellow star and transported “for their protection” to the ghetto. At 15, Mr. Herskovitz was forced to board a cattle car to his first camp in Auschwitz, Poland.

Born in 1929 in Czechoslovakia, Michael Herskovitz is one of the disappearing voices of World War II. The Holocaust survivor will be speaking on Monday, May 3^rd to Haverford High School students about his experiences in Birkenau-Auschwitz, Mathausen, and Gunskirchen. Having studied the Holocaust, read Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night, Haverford students and staff are looking forward to this rare opportunity to hear this first person account of history.

Mr. Herskovitz shares his life story through his two books: Our Cherry Tree Still Stands and Early One Saturday Morning, Triumph of a Holocaust Survivor. Today he lives in Philadelphia and shares his story with communities and schools throughout our area. In fact, Mr. Herskovitz was awarded the Humanitarian of the Year 2009 by the National Brith Sholom 104^th Annual Convention, Man of the Year 2008 by the Boys Club of Delaware, and the 2007 Holocaust Speaker of the Year by D.C.’s Men’s Potomac Club.