That’s my story, Zachary, and I am sticking to it.

He’d wait me out if his parents let him. A promise is a promise, but is he ready for such a tale? I’ve only shared this story with a select few, and only for Holocaust remembrance.

I want to help people, no matter what anyone else says. I want to help the less fortunate. I want to be a lawyer. Will you still be proud of me if I become a lawyer, like Atticus Finch? “Zack proudly displayed his Jewish Star necklace. For some strange reason, Zack’s mother began to cry.

Such is life in the legal arena—lawyers and clients may not count their chickens until all the appeals are hatched.

He’s the reason I became a plaintiff’s lawyer, you know. He made me promise to help people less fortunate than myself.”“He would be very proud of the man you have become, Zack.

I know you will honor your promise of becoming a lawyer, living an honorable life, and helping those less fortunate.

While it may have been the exception rather than the rule, the Jewish community did what it could, when it could, to defy Nazi tyranny . . . Contrary to the myth of little or no resistance, there was, indeed, verified, armed resistance to the Holocaust in ghettos and concentration camps.

Did Max survive because he was brave? Perhaps. Lucky? Absolutely! Stupid? Undoubtedly so. But the number one reason Max sat in front of young Zachary Blake on the eve of the boy’s Bar Mitzvah was Max’s stubborn refusal to give up or give in.

It may be condescending for me to say, but I am proud of you. I know your grandfather would be proud of you, too.