Holocaust survivor shares 100 years of wisdom to celebrate his birthday
To celebrate his 100th birthday, Melbourne Holocaust survivor Phillip Maisel has revealed his 11 pearls of wisdom.
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When Holocaust survivor Phillip Maisel turned 100 last week, it wasn’t a drink he was after or a piece of birthday cake, it was time with his family.
As a teenager, Mr Maisel endured two miserable years in a Jewish ghetto, before surviving multiple Nazi labour and concentration camps.
A motor mechanic, Mr Maisel used his skills to survive inside the camps, with his trade making him valuable enough to keep alive.
The tradesman was liberated by the French army in Germany in 1945 while on a Death March, along with other motor mechanics who had offered up their skills to the Nazis.
Reflecting on his liberation during an interview with NCA Newswire, Mr Maisel said he had an overwhelming feeling he was fortunate.
“I really felt that I was privileged,” he said.
“And naturally, I found my sister, which was an enormous, enormous advantage.”
At the beginning of 1949, Mr Maisel and his sister settled in Australia with their uncle – a move the survivor says he is forever grateful for.
After building a life in Melbourne and raising his two daughters, an opportunity popped up which the go-getter couldn’t pass by.
While some might look to retire at 70, Mr Maisel decided he had work to do.
For the next 30 years, the survivor would spend four days a week recording the testimonies of Holocaust survivors at the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Melbourne.
Over the decades, he has recorded 1400 testimonies, giving survivors like himself the opportunity to tell their story and the country the resources to educate Australians on some of the most tragic events of the past.
Over his journey as an interviewer, Mr Maisel said each survivor had their own way of looking at the Holocaust, but one opinion was agreed upon by the vast majority.
“You know, when I was interviewing people, I would ask them this question: what do you think was the wisest decision you've made in your life?”
“And the answer was to come to Australia. It’s a very, very lucky country.”
Mr Maisel said he saw the job as his way of keeping a promise to the friends he had made in the camps.
“During the Holocaust, when I wasn’t sure that I would survive, we promised one another that if we survive the Holocaust even for five minutes, we would tell the world what the Germans have done to the Jews, and to other nationalities,” Mr Maisel said.
“I have interviewed over 1000 people. Everybody sees the world differently. We all have a different pair of eyes.”
Reflecting on his own time spent in German concentration camps, Mr Maisel recalled one of the happiest moments of his life – a brief moment of joy in the midst of some of the darkest days of the Holocaust.
Made to strip naked and stand in the freezing cold for hours as his fellow prisoners died around him – malnourished and frozen – Mr Maisel said the desperation to survive meant his happiness was derived from food.
“We thought only about bread,” he explained.
“I was usually getting a piece of bread in the morning which had to last all day.
If I consumed it straightaway, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night because I would be hungry, so I divided it in two halves. Half in the morning, half at night.”
“Imagine, one day I woke up and I put a hand in my pocket. A piece of bread the size of the quarter of a fingernail. It’s so small but I had extra food for this day.”
“It was one of the happiest days of my life.”
Mr Maisel, now spending his days at home in Caulfield with his family, is proud of his technology skills – the 100-year-old using social media to keep in touch with his loved ones.
“I’m on Facebook and on Instagram. When you’re isolated, social media becomes very important,” he said.
Celebrating his 100th birthday last week alongside his twin sister Bella, who Mr Maisel made sure to explain was actually 20 minutes younger, the survivor, master interviewer and now centenarian used the occasion to share some of his most valuable life lessons from his 100 years.
11 lessons for life
1. Be tolerant and accepting of others
“We should be able to educate people to be patient, tolerant and to accept the other people. We all belong to the same human race, as the only one race.”
2. Share what you have
“There is enormous pleasure in giving. It is a privilege. And you should take advantage of it. This will bring happiness – the ability to give and not to take.”
3. Show your happiness
“It is very important to be optimistic, to show your happiness to others.”
4. Love is the best medicine
“Religion should teach people to love, not to hate. And this is the most important message: not to hate anybody.”
5. Every life is very, very valuable
“I’ve learnt a lot of facts about the Holocaust, about human nature. And I learnt something very, very important. Every life is very, very valuable. If somebody can help preserve someone’s life, they are doing enormous deed.”
6. Understand that every person has a “different pair of eyes”
“Everybody sees the world differently. Everybody has their own personal view on life.”
7. Love the work you are doing
“If you love what you are doing, the hard work is easy.”
8. Be flexible; you can always learn something more
“A person who is flexible and accepts the facts can always learn something more. There is always another truth that is fortunate to learn.”
9. Be grateful for “every little bit of every good thing”
“Think about the good things which happen in life and forget about the bad times. Be grateful for every little bit of the good things we experience”.
10. Focus on your attitude
“Spiritual and psychological attitude is the most important thing in life.”
11. Forgive
“We should always forgive, if we can.”
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