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Why is this person an upstander?

What was the historical context of his/her situation? What role did this person play in the situation?

Who fought against him/her? Why?

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How did they use language in their situation?  To inspire? To give hope? To not forget?

What made their words so powerful?

Did this person know they were an upstander?

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Select two (2) inspiring quotes and note when/where/how these quotes were shared with others.

Why are these words inspiring?

Overall, what inspired you the most about this person?

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Select two (2) inspiring quotes and note when/where/how these quotes were shared with others.

Why are these words inspiring?

Overall, what inspired you the most about this person?

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What can we learn from these words?

Do words matter for future generations to remember?

How did recording or sharing his/her legacy help others be more determined or persevere?

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Sam Harris is an up stander becuase he decided to stand up for himself and write a book about his past in the Holocaust. This person was a survivor of the Holocaust as a child. His part is to show everyone just how bad the Holocaust is. The Nazis fought against him becuase he was Jewish.

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EARLY YEARS:

Samuel R. Harris was four years old in 1939 when Hitler overran the town in which he lived, Demblin, Poland. Hitler destroyed Mr. Harris' large family. He spent three and a half years in two concentration camps: Demblin and Czestochowa. At age nine and a half, he was miraculously liberated by the Russian Army on January 17, 1945.

EDUCATION EXPERIENCE:

Sam Harris is a 1958 graduate of Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, where he received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science. He joined the Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1960 and became a member of the exclusive Equitable Hall of Fame. Sam served on the Chicago Board of Life Underwriters and President of the General Agency Managers Association. As an agent, he became a Life Member of the Million Dollar Round Table.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES:

Sam Harris has been very active in community and scholastic affairs. He is a former board member of Spertus College of Judaica. He served on the Board of Directors for Forest Hospital. He is currently on the Board of Directors of South Central Bank in Chicago. Sam Harris has been a member (and former officer) of The Rotary Club of Northbrook, Illinois for 45 years. He is a former President of Northbrook United Way.

Sam Harris spearheaded the building of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. He currently serves as President Emeritus of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie, Illinois. He speaks frequently to schools, churches and community groups throughout the country about his childhood experiences during the Holocaust, lessons he learned during the time he spent hiding in concentration camps, and his experience and role in the building of the Holocaust Museum in Illinois.

A Holocaust Museum is in the process of being organized in the Phoenix area and Mr. Harris is currently serving on it's Board of Directors.

AUTHOR:

In 2001 Mr. Harris wrote his autobiography, Sammy, Child Survivor of the Holocaust and in 2005 and 2010 the second and third edition were published. Spanish, Japanese, Russian and Polish editions are now available.

AWARDS:

In 2005, Sam Harris was awarded "The State of Illinois Human Rights Award for Distinguished Leadership for Protecting the Human Rights of the People of Illinois."

Grinnell College awarded Mr. Harris the coveted Alumni Award.

Sam Harris received from Temple Chai in Long Grove, Illinois their first Tikkun Olum Award, "Repairing the World"

Northbrook Rotary Club awarded Sam Harris The "Service Above Self" award.

He was awarded by Chicago Magazine," Chicagoan of the Year, 2009"

The Forward Newspaper named Sam Harris one of the most influential Jewish People in America in 2009.

In 2011, New Trier High School named Sam Harris one of the ten outstanding graduates of all time.

In 2013, The Boy Scouts of America awarded Sam Harris The Distinguished Citizenship Award.

In 2014, Recipient of the coveted Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

On April 12, 2015, Sam will be The Chicago Jewish Federation Honoree and Speaker at Temple Chai, in Long Grove.

On May 16, 2015, Sam will be the keynote speaker at the Tri-State Rotary in Appleton, Wisconsin.

CURRENTLY:

A documentary has been produced about Sam Harris by Eric Cosh and Ellen Palestrant, titled: SAMMY THE JOURNEY.

The documentary has been accepted by the Jewish Film Festival in the following cities:

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

St. Augustine, Florida

Chicago, Illinois

Sam Harris resides with his wife Dede in the northern suburbs of Chicago, Illinois and winters in Scottsdale, Arizona. Their children include daughter Julie and her husband Jeff and their two children Jeremy and Jessica. Their son David is recently deceased.

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SAMUEL R. HARRIS EARLY YEARS: Samuel R. Harris was four years old in 1939 when Hitler overran the town in which he lived, Demblin, Poland. Hitler destroyed Mr. Harris' large family. He spent three and a half years in two concentration camps: Demblin and Czestochowa.

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Sam Harris used language to spread his story. To inspire others that in the darkest times you can make out of there and make something of yourself. To not forget those dark times but to remember them and avoid another situation like that in the future. His words were so powerful because he lived in the Holocaust. He is not making up a story it really happened to him. Sam knew he was an up stander because he posted more books and talks about it.

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Sam Harris

Related Content

The staff, faculty and students of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago recently observed Holocaust Remembrance Day with a special chapel featuring child Holocaust survivor Mr. Samuel R. Harris, 80. The gathering was hosted by Kesher, Moody's Jewish culture student group.

"There were a million and a half Jewish children that died, and I'm one of the few that made it," Mr. Harris said to those gathered in Moody's Torrey-Gray Auditorium on May 4.

"I'm one of the youngest in the world right now."

The author of Sammy: Child Survivor of the Holocaust, Mr. Harris presented his harrowing story of six years inside a Jewish ghetto in Deblin, Poland, and two Nazi concentration camps. Born as Szlamek Rzeznik, the youngest of seven children, he was about five years old when he watched from behind a pile of bricks as Nazi soldiers marched his parents, relatives and neighbors to the railroad cattle cars to be exterminated in concentration camps.

Despite terrible hardships and starvation, he and two sisters survived and were liberated in 1945 by the Russian army. Adopted by the Harris family in the Chicago area in 1948, he didn't share his story until years later. Harris was awarded the Chicagoan of the Year award in 2009 for the vision that birthed the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie, Ill.

"[Harris] speaks at hundreds of campuses, so it was incredible that he was free to come to Moody on this special day," said Julia Ditoiu, a graduating Jewish Studies major and president of Kesher, who invited Mr. Harris to speak. Kesher educates students about the Jewish roots of the Christian faith.

Mr. Harris shared memories of running from Nazi soldiers, riding in the "belly of a monster" in the suffocating stench of a railroad cattle car, and hiding under flea- and lice-infested bunk beds in concentration camps. An older sister managed to protect him and his sister throughout the war.

He also spoke to the rise of anti-Semitism around the world. "What bothers me is that anti-Semitism is tremendous now, all over Europe, all over. That disturbs me more than what happened." He added,

"What happened, there's nothing we can do about. But what we can do is prevent what can happen."

Dr. Michael Rydelnik, professor of Jewish Studies and Bible at Moody, closed the chapel time with personal reflections of life without 16 relatives who perished in the Holocaust. He also affirmed Moody for its longtime support of Israel, including in the 1970s when neo-Nazis marched in Skokie, Illinois. During that time Moody took out a full-page newspaper ad condemning the anti-Semitism.

That passion reflects "our theological convictions at this school, our conviction that all people matter to God, and also, in particular, that God has a special heart for the Jewish people," Ryndelnik said.

"It is absolutely necessary that we not stand passively by in the face of anti-Semitism," he said. "God's calling us to be the ones who speak up."

Quoting Ian Kershaw, Ryndelnik said, "The road to Auschwitz was built by hate but paved by indifference." He concluded, "May we never be indifferent to this kind of hatred."

Moody Radio's Jon Gauger (right) interviewing

Mr. Harris and his wife, Dede.

After chapel, Moody Radio's Jon Gauger recorded a live interview and Q&A session with Harris and his wife, Dede, for upcoming broadcasts of The Land and the Book (Aug. 20 and 27). For more information about The Land and the Book, visit www.moodyradio.org/the-land-and-the-book.

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Child Holocaust Survivor Mr. Sam Harris Speaks at Moody | Moody Bible Institute

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Sam Harris The staff, faculty and students of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago recently observed Holocaust Remembrance Day with a special chapel featuring child Holocaust survivor Mr. Samuel R. Harris, 80. The gathering was hosted by Kesher, Moody's Jewish culture student group.

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“I was hungry, just fighting for survival - you know animals fight for survival. Maybe it's a human instinct to fight.” These words are used still to this day be Harris to show how people fighting is their instinct. He shares them at presentations. These words are inspiring because they show us how people fight, and that it is their instinct. The thing that inspired me most was probably the fact that he survived the Holocaust and is sharing his story.

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"I think I always thought I had a guardian angel. Yes, I was hopeful,"  Sam shares this quote during presentations still to this day. This quote shows that during hard times you can still have a guardian angel to watch over you. I was inspired by Sam because he survived the Holocaust and is sharing his story.

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Trey, I need you to elaborate here.  Why is fighting instinctive?  Explain your thinking

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Again, this is a very simple explanation to questions that require you to dig deeper.

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Thing we can learn from these words are mistake from the past and how to avoid them. We can learn the stories of people who went through these problems and dealt with them. These word do matter for future generations because if they don’t know the problems of the past they can come back in the future. Them sharing their legacy gave people who have a hard life hope. That in the dark times they can still make it out. It show people not all hope is lost.

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Trey, please be more specific in your writing.  Give evidence/examples to support your thinking.