Her father was her idol. She had a loving family. She even described the earliest years of her childhood as “perfect.”
And then she was captured—and subjected to the Holocaust.
Dr. Irene Butter grew up in Europe leading up to and during World War II. Her family was ultimately taken by Germans and sent to Bergen-Belsen, a concentration camp in Germany, where she experienced firsthand the atrocities committed by the Nazis. Her story tells of hunger and despair, death and betrayal.
And yet, “by a miracle,” Butter survived. Despite the horrific things she endured, she would make it to a refugee camp in Algeria, and from there relocated to the United States. Butter earned a degree from the University of Michigan before becoming a professor at the school, helping overcome the lack of female representation in higher education at the time.
Inspired by Elie Wiesel, a famous author who also survived the Holocaust, Butter decided to share her story after decades of staying private. Today, she travels the globe to educate people, particularly youth, about the Holocaust, echoing the message to “never be a bystander.” On Monday, Jan. 12, she brought this message to BHS, where she told her story to the freshman class to wrap up a unit centered around Wiesel’s memoir Night.
Not only did Butter share her experience living through the Holocaust, but she emphasized the importance of continuing to have discussions about the Holocaust—however painful—in order to prevent history from repeating itself.
“Many people come to America because it’s a democracy, and it provides freedom and rights to individuals,” Butter said. “But… they’re not constructed in a way that they can defend themselves.”
As Butter put it, if people do not recognize the vulnerability in their own country’s system, they open themselves to oppression that parallels what occurred in fascist Europe. She mentioned in her presentation that there was a time when she lived in the United States and did not feel comfortable telling her story, and that conversation about the Holocaust was not welcome. She said that if people do not maintain its relevance and instead reopen themselves to this ignorance, the path toward a repeat of the Holocaust is forged, even in a democratic country like the United States.
It is for this very reason that she wants all Americans to “never be a bystander,” never standing by as evil and dangerous discourse takes place.
“We all have power to do something. It may be very little. It may just be joining a protest on a given day on the corner of a street, or it may be signing a petition, or it may be supporting a certain member of the government who is taking a critical position,” Butter said.
Regardless, she insists that everyone plays a role in educating the public and fighting authoritarianism: “It’s important to do something … for you to make a difference.”
At the end of the day, Butter believes in three things: “refusing to be enemies,” “never [being] a bystander” and that “one person can make a difference.” Her messages ring especially resonant given the division and tension that currently cloud the country.
After all, as Butter put it, “All of us have that responsibility of making a difference to build a better world.”
