Holocaust survivor speaks in Crosby

CROSBY - Holocaust concentration camp survivor Dr. Robert Fisch doesn't detail the pain and suffering he experienced many years ago.

Instead, he speaks of the humanity.

"I don't want to tell you the horror they did to Jews. You know that," he said. "I want to tell you there was always someone trying to help. ... There was always some sign of humanity."

Even if it came in the form a small piece of bread, given by someone else who was hungry, too.

Fisch spoke Tuesday at an Unlimited Learning event at Heartwood Senior Living in Crosby.

For decades, Fisch never spoke his experiences during the Holocaust. Now 87 years old, he spreads his story. One of "happiness, acceptance and gratitude" for his liberation. He does it so others might learn from the past.

Born in Budapest, Hungary, Fisch was liberated from the concentration camp Mauthausen, located in upper Austria.

He was 19 when he was first taken to a concentration camp. It was June 4, 1944.

"They handled us badly," he said.

He would stay inside the concentration camp until the Americans liberated the group in May 1945.

"Humanity cannot comprehend what happened there. Inhumanity is beyond comprehension," he said.

Looking back, Fisch says the lessons he learned from the Holocaust wasn't about "killing or death."

"I learned to take some humanity from all of this," he said. "I'm not talking forgiveness. It's impossible to forgive someone who killed my father, who committed mass murder."

Fisch learned life lessons that he now tasked himself with spreading to others.

Simply put, everyone is different, he said.

But "we are all here together. We have to learn something from that regarding relationships.

"Regardless of who we are, we all go through the same life cycle: Birth, aging and death. As individuals, we have more similarities than differences."

And, no matter what, everyone must "remain human" in all circumstances.

Following his time in the concentration camp, Fisch completed medical school in Hungary and came to the U.S. in 1957. He became an intern and eventually a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota until he retired.

Fisch is known for his clinical research on Phenylketonuria (PKU), a genetic disease.

He studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest, the Walker Art Center and Minneapolis College of Art and Design. His works have been exhibited in shows in St. Paul, Minneapolis, Washington D.C., Memphis, Israel and Austria.

His book "Light from the Yellow Star: Lessons of Love" tells how he came to understand the power of love and freedom.

On Tuesday, he said future leaders and parents need to concentrate on children.

"They have to learn to be as human beings. That deeply depends on parents," he said. "The three most important things to give a child: example, example, example."

Further, he said people don't have to love each other. They just have to understand each other.

"We're here for a short life. We have to learn to live together," he said. "We have to respect each other. In order to be respected, you have to respect one another."

Learn more about Dr. Robert Fisch and his books online at www.yellowstarfoundation.org .