“Don’t stand by, silent, while something awful is happening to another person. Sit with the kid who always sits alone. Stand up to bullying.” The words of Holocaust survivor Manford Lindenbaum rang clearly at the Ocean County Library Toms River Branch during a “Combatting Hate” event.

An estimated 155 people of all ages filled Mancini Hall, including a contingent of fifth-graders from Island Heights Grade School and their parents and guardians, as well as seniors and young adults.

“Manny” offered vivid recollections of his family’s life in their native Germany, and the antisemitism that fueled the expulsion of his family along with 17,000 Jews from their homes on October 27, 1938. They were destined to exist in deplorable conditions in a refugee camp near the Poland border.

The Jackson resident detailed the pain of his parents’ and sister’s placement in the Auschwitz prison camp, the peril of escaping to Poland with his brother, and his relocation to Great Britain through the Kindertransport operation before reaching America in 1946.

Mr. Lindenbaum’s message is one of hope and coexistence through understanding. He stands firm in his belief that everyone is equal, and that everyone is the same beneath the skin. The indefatigable survivor has said that he owes his life to righteous strangers who reached out to him, and that he’s determined to do the same for a new generation.