Agustina Saud and Victoria Costantino expressed: ” we really enjoyed this special visit. From the first moment she gave us a big smile and she opened her heart to us.., we were fascinated with her anecdotes.”
Amerika Urzua fondly remembered Mariette`s vivid description of “… the moment when she realized that the SS were entering Brussels, while she was on her way to buy some cream” and remarked: “That was what struck me the most, having her right in front of us, telling us about those awful events that changed her life, …. how strong she had to be to go on with it,… and how healthy she looked. She showed us pictures of her childhood, the restaurant and her son, and –it really moved me- she had brought some candies and said ‘I brought you this, so I don’t leave you with a sour taste in your mouth due to my war memories’. In the end, we gave her a flower bouquet and kissed her, everyone amazed by her strength. It was a very interesting visit, I really loved it”
Lila Chiavelli and Martina Falcucci remarked: “We were surprised to know she speaks different languages (Spanish, French, English, and Flemish) and switches from one to the other very fluently.”
Fermín Garcia Bonel Francisco Montes commented: “It was very unusual not to see hatred in her views. Her message was that we had to forgive and she taught us to find the light within evil. We were also impressed by the interest shown by the young audience from the very beginning and her story ended up being very interesting.”
Marco Pimentel wrote: “She was a lovely lady, full of love and wise words; she told us that forgiving was important as a life full of hate isn’t worth living. But I will never forget when she said with a smile on her face that she had seen and heard some horrible things that she couldn’t even tell us about, I was shocked. Things like War take away one’s innocence, she was young…only 15 when she witnessed the horrors of war.”
Josefina Diaz and Lucila Walker thought that Mariette’s visit was incredible because she gave us more than a history class, she taught us a lesson for life.
Agustina Saud and Victoria Costantino were very pleased: “Mariette showed us photos and shared her emotions. It was a pleasure to have her here! We really liked her visit.
Michelle Catopodis felt that Mariette “…seemed to be as cute as a teddy bear. The stories were amazing! It was hard to believe all the things she had to go through.”
Mateo Japas, Nicole Camps and Guadalupe Rizzutti wrote: “She opened her heart to us and spoke about her life experience. What struck us most was when she told us that people in Belgium didn’t know about the Holocaust, they knew about the camps but thought that people were taken there to work, not to gas chambers.”
Fran Montes summed up what most students thought: “ I hope the school keeps organizing these activities that are very profitable, it’s a very interesting way of learning.”
