Tobey Lee, ’20

Although I don’t have any direct family members that were impacted by the Shoah, my family has done its part in ensuring that the horrors of the Shoah will never be forgotten and will never happen again. This is a picture of my aunt and my dad in Auschwitz, both leading the Builders of Jewish Education’s March of the Living trip held annually for high school seniors (separate from Shalhevet’s Poland Israel trip). My aunt Monise Neumann was the director of Los Angeles’ March of the Living chapter for 13 years and took hundreds of Jewish teens from schools like Milken, De Toledo, and Harvard Westlake to Poland and Israel. She did research on specific camps and brought survivors to share their story. She’s been to Poland over fifteen times and has touched so many lives. She now works for the International March of the Living and continues to program events and trips for teenagers and adults. She is a true inspiration and is one of my personal role models, as she continues to study and remember one of the most horrific periods of Jewish history. She will never stop working on her mission of teaching others about the Shoah. One survivor that she has stayed especially close with is Sidonia Lax, who was born in Prezemysl, Poland. At the age of 17 Sidonia left Elsnig (a sub camp of Buchenwald) via a cattle car that was bombed by the Allies, however, she jumped off and survived. She has told her story to thousands of teenagers just like us and continues to inspire her community everyday. My dad, on the other hand, is an emergency room doctor at Kaiser Permanete West Los Angeles and volunteered to be the trip’s doctor. This picture was taken on my aunt’s last trip as the director of the group so my dad thought it would be a good idea to help her out and see her inspire and empower thousands. He worked two March of the Living trips and will forever be changed by it. My dad is another role model of mine, as he instilled in me good values, menschlikit, the value of hard work, and kindness. He makes an impact in a different but significant way. He is currently working from home and has called hundreds of patients regarding their health during this pandemic. He transfers patients to the nearest Kaiser and makes sure that they are supported. Although he only goes into Kaiser West LA once a week, he puts his body on the line and is working to combat COVID-19. He is making sure that we, as a community, can move forward from these hard times. I owe so much to both my dad and my aunt, and they continue to inspire thousands each day. My aunt is a Holocaust educator, but she has done so much in that role. As a doctor, my dad has touched people and made a difference. I’m hoping that I can make as big of an impact as my aunt and dad have.