Mary Bauer Urges Students to Reject Hate
“A Conversation with Holocaust Survivor Mary Bauer” was held at Santa Monica College and was organized by the Associated Students in conjunction with the Jewish Affinity Group. Nearly 99-year-old Holocaust survivor Mary Bauer spoke to students on Thursday, May 21, about the significance of overcoming hate and preserving historical memory.
Bauer, born May 29, 1927, in Budapest, Hungary, faced imprisonment at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Ravensbrück concentration camp, a death march, and ultimately survived the Holocaust. Throughout the presentation, Bauer stressed the importance of rejecting hate and learning from history.
“I have become living history,” Bauer said to the audience. “Since I am a witness to my story… you are a witness to me!”
She explained that sharing these stories has become increasingly important as fewer Holocaust survivors remain alive to speak firsthand about what happened.
Bauer began by sharing Pastor Martin Niemöller’s warning about silence and persecution. “When they came to take me, there was nobody left to help me.” She urged students to speak up against discrimination before it gets out of hand.
During the presentation, Bauer described being forced to wear a yellow Star of David, a symbol synonymous with Judaism that the Nazis used to identify Jewish people. She recalled returning to school after the law was imposed and hearing a former friend tell her, “I don’t want to sit next to a dirty Jew.”
“What does this represent?” Bauer said while discussing the Star of David. “It means an identification to make a wall between them and us.”
Bauer also spoke about the six-digit number tattooed on her left lower arm upon her arrival at Auschwitz, a system that was used to identify all prisoners. She explained that students often ask to photograph the tattoo, but she encourages them to focus on the person wearing it instead.
“Take a picture of me so that you identify the number with a person,” Bauer said.
Later on, she shared a story about a woman mistaking the tattoo for a phone number. Bauer recalled responding emotionally, explaining that the tattoo represented survival and the duty of Holocaust survivors to tell future generations about “this hell, which people created, for people who are unwanted.”
Bauer talked about how she managed to survive without hate, even after everything she went through.
“My life is winning,” Bauer said. “Winning… the fact that I am not full of hate.”
Several times during the event, Bauer linked what she went through in World War II to the political and social issues we see today. She warned about the danger of silence and dehumanization, as well as growing up with filtered information, experiencing segregation after arriving in the U.S. and noticing how quickly discrimination can seem normal.
“Some horrible big things can start with little things,” she told students, urging them to stay informed, vote thoughtfully and speak out before hate escalates.
During the conversation, Dean of SMC Noncredit and External Programs Dr. Scott Silverman, who moderated the event, described Bauer’s way of comparing the past and present as “real sober.” He thanked her for keeping on sharing her stories and experiences with students.
Bauer added that she hopes to continue speaking to students for as long as she is physically able, underscoring the urgency of preserving survivors’ testimonies while they can still share them in person.
The event concluded with students gathering around Bauer for personal one-on-one conversations. They asked personal questions, took selfies and kept talking about her experiences and message of tolerance.