In the Name of Paris


Paris. The way we think of that beautiful city has changed. That's what they want. They want us to think about things differently, to use Paris as a symbol of bloodshed and fear, not the one we know and love of liberty and culture. That is the nature of extremism: It tries to change who we are, how we see the world, to change our habits and our patterns of thought, to enjoy our freedoms less, to exert control.
Stephen Smith

Serena Dykman

When Serena Dykman was four years old, her grandmother Maryla Michalowski-Dyamant recorded her testimony for USC Shoah Foundation. After Maryla described her experiences – she was deported from Bedzin, Poland, to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where she was forced to work as Dr. Josef Mengele’s translator, and survived a death march to Ravensbuck and Malchow concentration camps – the interviewer asked if there was anything she wanted to say to her granddaughter, Serena.

Maryla said she hoped Serena “does everything so it doesn’t happen again.”