{"id":3462,"date":"2018-07-13T14:50:28","date_gmt":"2018-07-13T18:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=3462"},"modified":"2018-07-13T14:50:28","modified_gmt":"2018-07-13T18:50:28","slug":"3462","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2018\/07\/3462.html","title":{"rendered":"Achieving the Dream: Holocaust Survivor Completes Education He Was Denied"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"9788045101_014c87ce66_c\"<\/a>On June 21, 2018, Mordechai Miller finally achieved his dream of graduating from school. Along with the rest of the class of 2018, Miller donned a navy blue cap and gown, walked across the stage erected in the center of Smithtown High School West\u2019s football field, shook hands with the school\u2019s faculty and posed for pictures. Unlike most of Smithtown\u2019s graduates, however, Miller was not a fresh faced teen looking forward to summer vacation. Instead, Miller was an 87 year old man and a survivor of the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

Born near Warsaw in 1931, Miller had only completed one year of formal education before the Nazis invaded Poland and forced his family to move from their small town of Jablonna to a Jewish ghetto in the nearby town of Legionowo. Miller\u2019s father built a hiding space in the attic of their house. It was this space that saved the Miller family\u2019s lives when the ghetto was liquidated. Neighbors who were unable to hide or escape were taken to the Treblinka extermination camp.<\/p>\n

Miller\u2019s family spent the next several years running and hiding from the Nazis. They spent time in a bunker, a Polish woman\u2019s attic and camped in a forest amid rain and snow. After the war ended in 1945, life began to return to normal. Miller\u2019s father opened a business in Poland, but anti-Semitic violence once again raged throughout Poland. After 40 Jews were killed in a pogram, the Miller family emigrated to Israel. In 1956, Miller immigrated to America where he married and began a business dealing with truck parts. He married, had four children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, but he never forgot his dream of finishing his education.<\/p>\n

It was through Smithtown High School West, where Miller shared his story with students, that he finally achieved his dream. \u201cIt was a whole big thing,\u201d Miller said. \u201cIt was hundreds of student graduates, and then me. An 87 year old graduate.\u201d Miller was touched by the standing ovation he received when he was handed his diploma. \u201cI appreciated it very much, that I got some recognition,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not used to these things, coming from my background.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the horrors in his past, Miller told students, \u201cDon\u2019t feel sorry for me\u2026I\u2019m okay. I speak a few languages, I read and write in some languages. I can hold my own,\u201d he said. \u201cI read a lot of books. That was my education.\u201d That does not mean he does not want students to take advantage of the opportunities he was so cruelly denied. \u201cI tell them how lucky they are, that they have beautiful schools, libraries. All the knowledge is right in front of them, they just have to look it up and take it,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I tell them. To appreciate what they have.\u201d Hopefully, Miller\u2019s fellow graduates will take his advice and take advantage of the opportunities they have been lucky enough to receive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On June 21, 2018, Mordechai Miller finally achieved his dream of graduating from school. Along with the rest of the class of 2018, Miller donned a navy blue cap and gown, walked across the stage erected in the center of Smithtown High School West\u2019s football field, shook hands with the school\u2019s faculty and posed for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":616,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,12],"tags":[177,820],"class_list":["post-3462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-courage-and-strength","category-inspiring-people","tag-education","tag-holocaust-survivor"],"yoast_head":"\nAchieving the Dream: Holocaust Survivor Completes Education He Was Denied<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On June 21, 2018, Holocaust survivor Mordechai Miller was finally able to achieve his dream of completing the education the Nazis denied him.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, 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