Headline: Harriet Mendels

Section: Features 

Subhead: Reflecting on the legacy of Holocaust survivor Harriet Mendels

Byline: Mario Falit-Baiamonte

Picture: Harriet Mendels 

Picture credit: Harriet Mendels

Cutline: We reflect on the continuing legacy of Harriet Mendels from her time in pre-war Holland to her activism today. 

        Harriet Mendels’ life started fairly normally. She was born to a Jewish family in a small town on the seashore of Holland. “It's a very beautiful little town,” Harriet (She/Her) said. 

        Just like any other kid of her time, she went to school and learned to read and write and do the 13 times tables, which were required at that time. 

        “We were a very assimilated family, ” Harriet said. “So we did not encounter much antisemitism -- there were a few instances but not many” 

        Around the time she was eight she started to realize that there were differences between her and her fellow classmates. 

        “One day a coworker told my father he was a ‘dirty Jew.’ ” 

        Due to this and other  instances of rising antisemitism across Europe, Harriet's family decided to leave Holland. 

        Imagine having to leave your homeland. Imagine having to leave because people are against you. 

        The Mendels family realized that things were getting worse for Jews across Europe and they decided to leave. 

“In May of 1939 we went to America. A year to the day later the Nazis invaded Holland,” she said. Her family got out right on time. 

After coming to America, Harriet's mother prepared her for meeting people that “looked different” but she didn't even notice a difference in how people looked. “I did not notice people of different races,'' Harriet said. “It just goes to show you that children have to learn to notice differences in people.” They are not born with it. 

Harriet also was able to mention that many of her experiences in America were different from Europe and that she actually experienced more antisemitism in 1940s America. 

“The boy down the hall called us dirty Jews regularly,” she said. 

In America she also encountered other kinds of antisemitism. She was not allowed to join the dance club or the tennis team just because she was Jewish. Throughout her life and time in America, Harriet had to experience a lot of antisemitism.

***

        Today Harriet lives in Seattle, Washington and she is an active member of the Speakers Bureau of the Holocaust Center for Humanity. She has continued to fight for equal rights for all people through many forums including politics. She has run a few times for state house, and has remained involved in local politics. 

        I hope that those of you reading were able to get something out of Harriet's story. The Holocaust is one of many human rights atrocities that have been perpetrated throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, and antiseitism is one of many ways that minority groups have been persecuted. I truly hope you have all learned something today from reading this story. Harriet is an advocate for what is right and hopefully you can be as well.