A Personal Glimpse into a Horrifying History

Holocaust survivor Nesse Godin will speak at Mount St. Mary’s University on Thursday March 27 at 7:00 p.m. in the Knott Auditorium.

Godin was born in Siauliai, Lithuania where she lived with her parents and two brothers until the Nazi invasion in 1939.  She survived Shauliai, the Lithuania Ghetto, the Stutthof Concentration camp, four labor camps and a death march. “I was not strong, I was not smart, I was a little girl,” says Godin of her time spent in concentration camps, “I think that I survived the Holocaust by the grace of the Lord above and by the kindness of Jewish women that gave me a bite of bread, wrapped my body in straw to keep me warm.”

In 1950, Godin and her husband Jack, also a Holocaust survivor, came to the United States and settled in the Washington D.C. area.  Godin has dedicated her adult life to teaching and sharing memories of the Holocaust. She is the president of the Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Friends of Greater Washington.

“After Ms. Godin’s visit to the Mount last year, we received such positive feedback from her powerful and moving presentation, we had to have her back”, says Sean Adams, director of Mount St. Mary’s University campus activities.  “Our students studying the American experience:  morality, ethics, justice and human rights get the rare privileged of a first-hand historical experience with Ms. Godin.  She is a world-class speaker.”  

Godin has received numerous awards including:

1990- Maryland Commission on Women chose Nesse as one of the “Unsung Heroines of the State of Maryland.”

1996- Honored by Aberdeen Proving Ground Military and by the Fort Richie and Fort Mead for her dedication in teaching the Holocaust.

1997- Received the “Distinguished Service” award by the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington.

1998- Received the Eli Wiesel Holocaust Remembrance medal in recognition of her dedication to remember the victims of the Holocaust and for teaching the consequences of hatred to both children and adults.

1999- Presented the L’Chaim (Celebration of Life) award by the State of Israel Bonds.

2005- Guest speaker for the United Nations.

2006- Honored by Fort Belvoir for her dedication to humanity.

The event is free and open to the public.