by Chloe Rensink
Students learned about the tragic story of the late Max Steinmetz, a holocaust survivor, last Wednesday as part of the traveling ‘Americans and the Holocaust Exhibit’ currently in Troy University’s library.
The lecture was given by Amy McDonald, a history teacher at Shades Valley High School in Birmingham, Alabama.
Steinmetz was one of the few remaining survivors of the Holocaust, just before his death in March of 2021.
McDonald wrote the book “Determined to Survive,” so people would never forget Steinmetz’s story of survival during the harsh conditions he faced in 1944.
“My voice is not the important one, his voice is the one that matters,” McDonald said. During Max Steinmetz’s final years of life, McDonald reached out to him to hear his story. Steinmetz continues to tell his story, in person, at various schools and events.
After spending much time together, Steinmetz asked McDonald to write his story for publication.
“I am just a history teacher; I am not a novelist,” McDonald said. “But I would be honored to write this for you.”
Spending extended time outside of school interviewing Steinmetz, she discovered much about his life. It took two years to write his story.
During her presentation, McDonald showed clips of a video-recorded interview between Steinmetz and her.
Max Steinmetz was born in Romania in 1933 into a Jewish Orthodox family. He went from playing soccer outdoors and spending time by the river to being bullied due to abrupt rise in antisemitic beliefs.
“We jumped off the bridge into the river to avoid getting beat up after school,” Steinmetz said in the recorded interview.
It only became worse after moving to the Szasz Regen, Ghetto, according to the interview.
This is where the selection process began, and where Max Steinmetz recorded the worst day in his life.
“People were screaming, yelling, dying, begging for help” Steinmetz said, recalling how the Nazis crammed loads of people into cattle carts.
Steinmetz was separated from his mother, father and younger sister that day. He said it was an unforgettable day amidst the terror, and the last time he would ever see his family again. One in four people were selected as slave laborers, where he and his brother, Henry, were picked. The rest were shipped to gas chambers.
Through his time as a slave, he met unbearable circumstances without being fed or given a proper amount of water.
“Henry was a big guy, standing 6 feet and 2 inches tall but weighing only 80 pounds at that time,” Steinmetz said.
Steinmetz’s brother passed away at the camp due to malnutrition and illness. As American soldiers began invading Germany, the Jewish camps were sent on a march from Dachau to Tegernesee. Some Jews were left for dead on the journey as they were too weak to continue the march.
Max Steinmetz ran from the march to a German house for help, where he was given aid by the homeowners. A few days later, people came to the house to see him. Weary at first, Steinmetz walked to the door – much to the surprise of an American soldier.
“The man asked if I could speak Yiddish, and so I did,” Steinmetz said. “When back to me in Yiddish, it was then that I realized it was over.
“I was free.”
In July 1948, Max Steinmetz was shipped to the United States. He refused to speak of his experiences for 25 years.
McDonald found the burial site of Henry Steinmetz, Max Steinmetz’s brother, in Landsberg, Germany.
“I have always felt uneasy not knowing where my brother’s body might be, but I feel at peace now that I know,” Steinmetz said.
Max Steinmetz wanted to spread a messaged of love.
“Get along with each other, nothing else is important. Nothing else matters . . . Nothing else matters.”
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