Lengel: My Mother, The Liberation of Auschwitz and The Detroit Newspaper Strike

Miriam Lengel with granddaughter Shoshanna Utchenik.

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

My late mother Miriam Lengel, who had such a great sense of humor and a keen sense of perspective in life, was there for about six weeks before going to a munitions factory in Germany.

I always like sharing this story in her honor.

When I was on strike at the Detroit News in 1995 I went for lunch one Sunday at my parents' house and I needed a little perspective. Some people on the picket line were depressed. They saw it as a very dark, hopeless moment in their life. I wasn’t depressed. But I still needed some perspective.

So I asked my mother:

"You were in Auschwitz, were those the darkest days of your life?"

She said something like: "The first few days we were depressed and crying. And after that... I was with my friends. We were joking and laughing."

I asked, "You knew what was going on?"

She said, "Yes, but what could we do?"

It always blows me away thinking about how anyone could laugh under those circumstances and how powerful humor and laughter can be.

My mother always told me, “Whatever happens in life, don’t lose your sense of humor."

I remind myself of the story about Auschwitz from time to time when something doesn’t go my way, when life hits a bumpy stretch along the road.

Perspective.

We all need a dose of it from time to time.