Meet Nate Leipciger, a 95 year old Holocaust survivor who lives in Toronto. Nate was born in Poland in 1928 and when he was 15 years old, he entered Auschwitz. Nate is one of the 11% of European Jewish children under sixteen who lived to see the end of WWII. This number drops to only 1% when you consider Polish Jewish children. Put another way, 89% of Jews (and 99% of Polish Jews) under sixteen were murdered and robbed of the chance to live and shape our world. In other words, Nate is a miracle. Not only is it a miracle that he survived the Holocaust, it is a miracle that at 95 years old, Nate is sharp, witty and mobile! You heard right in the introduction - Nate is still driving! Nate and I first spoke in June, and my normal process is to hold one conversation and then publish the episode. However, after speaking with Nate I realized 1) how ill-prepared I was to navigate a conversation with a survivor and 2) how important it is to tell as much of Nate’s story as possible. As a result, Nate and I held additional conversations, the latest being this past Monday, October 23. This most recent conversation provides us all with an opportunity to hear Nate’s thoughts on 10/7 and the atrocities Hamas unleashed on Israel. Our discussion on 10/7 begins shortly after the 60 min mark. In 2015, Nate published a book titled The Weight of Freedom. His book details the living hell he and his family navigated while living under the control of the Third Reich. Nate was 5 years old when the Nazis came to power and for the next 12 years he lived under the rule of Adolf Hitler. In 1939, hell touched down on earth, and Nate lived it. It looked like starvation, disease, firing squads, gas chambers, and sexual abuse by fellow prisoners. This wasn’t war. This was depravity that was mainstreamed, normalized and systematized. The Nazis were purpose built to exterminate the Jewish people. And they almost achieved that goal having murdered ⅓ of the living Jews at the time. Nate and his family were forced from their home into a ghetto in 1939. And then on August 1, 1943 - Nate and his family were deported to the death camp, Auschwitz. Over 1.1 million people, including Nate’s mother and sister, were murdered in Auschwitz. As you will hear, while in Auschwitz, Nate asked his father what they would do if they were marched into the gas chambers. Nate’s father responded, “we will march with our heads held high in defiance and we will say the first line of the Shema over and over again.” This episode concludes with Nate saying the Shema and me joining him. I have muted my voice so each one of you will be able to say the Shema with him. Thank god Nate’s final Shema was not lost in the darkness of Auschwitz. Instead, Nate's Shemas continue to this day and will be here, for eternity, for all those seeking Nate’s courage. May we and god never forget Nate, his words and the wisdom and daas he has chosen to gift all of us.