Holocaust Survivor: Always Be Kind to Each Other

She drives a typical car, dresses in reasonable clothes, speaks softly and smiles often. Just by looking at Maud Dahme, one might think she has led a fairly charmed life. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Dahme was born in the Netherlands in 1936.  She was Jewish. She came to on Monday to tell the eighth-grade students her story as a culminating activity to the social studies unit on the Holocaust.

At the time of Dahme’s birth, living conditions were becoming increasingly dangerous for Jewish people in Europe, and by the time she was just four years old, Hitler invaded the Netherlands. While things weren’t too bad at first, Dahme said that eventually, Jews had more and more limitations placed on them.

“We couldn’t own a car or a bicycle or a radio,” she said. “We weren’t allowed to go into stores. And we couldn’t own radios, although many people figured out ways to make them.”

All Jews over the age of six also had to wear a gold star pinned to their shirts, so that everyone would be aware of their status.

As conditions got worse, Dahme’s parents decided to send her and her sister into hiding. From 1942 to 1945, The Dahme sisters, using different names, lived with two different Christian families on farms in the Netherlands. They arrived at their destinations thanks to the help of Dutch resistance workers.

“I remember so many people who helped my sister and me,” Dahme said. “We lived with total strangers, and had to call them aunt and uncle. It was very scary for us as young children.”

Eventually, after the Germans surrendered, Dahme and her sister found their parents again.

“We barely remembered them,” she said. “We all had to get to know each other all over again.”

Both of Dahme’s sets of grandparents, as well as many other relatives, weren’t so lucky. They all perished during the Holocaust.

Dahme’s parents had nothing at that point—no possessions, no birth certificates and no money. They started over by coming to New York City via Ellis Island when Dahme was 14.

She met and married her husband while she worked as a flight attendant for Pan Am. She now has four children and nine grandchildren.

She completed her speech by advising the students to always be kind to one another.

"This (the Holocaust) really started as a simple case of bullying," she said. "Someone didn't like someone else, and look what happened. It got out of control. I hope you'll remember my story as a lesson."

Dahme now devotes her time to Holocaust education. She speaks frequently to school and church groups.

A documentary about her experiences, called “The Hidden Child,” was released in 2006.