Tale of escape shows you can make a difference

I was so moved by Maudlyne Ihejirika's [March 25] article "Escapefrom Nigeria: A story of love, war, faith." I cried while reading itbecause it is so personal to me.

I'm the younger son of two Holocaust survivors, both of whom aresole survivors of their large families. My partner's father was sentby his parents out of Nazi Germany in 1934 to live with strangers inthe United States. They ended up getting out of Germany in thesummer of 1939, right before war broke out. My grandparents and 21aunts and uncles and 20 first cousins weren't so lucky.

One of the many lessons of the Holocaust is that one person canmake a difference and, as is written in the Jewish Talmud, to saveone life is to save the world.

Last month, I hosted a reception in Chicago for PaulRusesabagina, the gentleman whose bravery saved hundreds of livesduring the Rwanda genocide and who inspired the movie "HotelRwanda," starring Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle.

I want to thank her for writing about James Wolter and remindingpeople that there is much we can do in the face of evil.

Michael Bauer, Lake View