88-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor Fulfills Lifelong Goal Of Graduating From High School

Sep 03, 2020 by apost team

Hartford, Connecticut resident Miriam Schreiber — an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor from Poland — graduated with the class of 2020 this August, fulfilling her lifelong dream of earning a high school diploma and demonstrating that it’s never too late to accomplish your goals.

The New England Jewish Academy (NEJA) presented Schreiber with the honorary diploma on August 16, 2020 in West Hartford, Connecticut.

“From the first time I met Miriam, she told me how disappointed she was to have never had a formal education,” Erica Kapiloff, who works as a social worker at Jewish Family Services in Hartford, told the Washington Post.

According to the Post, Schreiber, who was born in 1932 just outside of Warsaw, Poland, spent her early years not attending school but trying to survive during WWII.

“My entire life was disrupted within minutes,” Schreiber told the paper. “I was eagerly looking forward to starting school.”

apost.com

“It has been a profound regret of mine, all my life,” she added. 

But with Kapiloff’s help — along with Miriam Brander, the director of operations and community programs at Jewish Family Services — Schreiber has joined the class of 2020.

Kapiloff and Brander first contacted NEJA, asking whether the high school’s principal, Richard Nabel, would be willing to confer an honorary diploma. As the Post reports, Nabel decided to leave the decision up to NEJA’s graduating class, so he brought a few students to Schreiber’s house to hear her story.

While Schreiber tells the Post that the first few years of her life were comfortable, the war changed everything. When she was just 7 years old, Schreiber had to flee with her family, traveling through forests and small villages. Shortly thereafter, the Post reports that Schreiber and her family were sent to a slave labor camp in Siberia. Schreiber and her family were liberated in March of 1946.

 After living in Germany, Sweden, and Israel, Schreiber eventually immigrated to the United States, where she worked at a bakery for just .99 cents per hour. And because of the war and all the hardships Schreiber went through, she never got the chance to undergo a formal education, though Schreiber told reporters at the Post that she reads “day and night” and can speak six languages.

With that said, Schreiber still wanted the chance to graduate high school — and the seniors at NEJA were happy to let her join the graduating class.

Unfortunately, however, NEJA had to cancel their in-person graduation, which moved online due to COVID-19. But despite the difficult circumstances, the school still wanted to give Schreiber a ceremony, and so they held a COVID-friendly socially distanced commencement with several speakers from Bernie Schreiber, Miriam’s son, to Kimberly Ballaro, the Director of HERO (the Holocaust Education Resource and Outreach Center). 

“Somehow the right people came together at the right time,” Schreiber said at the ceremony. “As a result, now I am offered an honorary degree to recognize that my life, learning and experiences are worthy of that honor.”

“When I finally got the diploma, I kissed it,” Schreiber told reporters after the ceremony. “I just couldn’t believe it was mine.”

Watch the entire graduation ceremony below:

Congratulations, Ms. Schreiber! Make sure to pass this incredible and inspiring story on to others — and don't forget to share your thoughts on Schreiber's achievements.