Laszlo was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1937. His testimony explores the impact of Nazi occupation on Hungarian Jews, especially children forced into hiding. Through personal memories of fear, loss, and survival, Laszlo shares what it meant to live in constant danger and the difficult moral choices families had to make.

In this course you will learn to:

The Holocaust was the planned, systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945. This genocide was fueled by antisemitism, which means prejudice against or hatred of Jewish people. The Holocaust is history’s most extreme example of antisemitism.

Laszlo’s personal story helps students understand not just the facts of this history, but the human cost—and why remembering matters. Through his testimony, students can:

• People were treated unfairly just for being Jewish — Laszlo and his family were forced to wear yellow stars and hide their identity to survive.
• Even kids were targets — Laszlo was just a little boy when he realized people wanted to hurt him simply because of who he was.
• Names are part of who we are — Laszlo had to hide his real name, which shows how scary it is to lose part of your identity.
• Sometimes families had to separate to survive — Laszlo’s parents made the brave choice to hide him and his brother, even though it meant being apart.
• Some people risked their lives to help others — Strangers helped hide Laszlo, showing that even during dark times, there were brave, kind people.
• Survival wasn’t always about strength—sometimes it was about luck — Laszlo survived because someone came just in time.
• Hearing his story helps us understand history better — Listening to Laszlo helps students realize why we must remember the Holocaust and stand up against hate today.
• Laszlo’s voice matters—and so does ours — By sharing his story, he’s trusting the next generation to keep his memories alive and make the world kinder.

By learning Laszlo’s story, students arm themselves with truth. When they encounter Holocaust denial or antisemitism, they’ll have the knowledge and courage to speak out—and to ensure history is never forgotten.

• Guidelines for Teaching About the Holocaust — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (ushmm.org):

  https://www.ushmm.org/teach/fundamentals/age-appropriateness

• Horrors of Auschwitz: The Numbers Behind WWII’s Deadliest Concentration Camp:
  https://www.history.com/news/auschwitz-concentration-camp-numbers

• Timeline of major events that occurred before, during, and immediately after the Holocaust:
  https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/resource-center/timeline.html

• Horrors of Auschwitz: The Numbers Behind WWII’s Deadliest Concentration Camp:
  https://www.history.com/news/auschwitz-concentration-camp-numbers