It has been an honor to participate in this book as the pen that registered these memories, as listener, reader, interlocutor, being a challenge to perform in the conception, texts, editorial coordination, research and image editing.

“This book celebrates the precious life of dear Mr. Johny F., who after experiencing the brutality and cruelty of the concentration camps, has become an example of survival and resilience, full of strength and determination, without ever losing his humor or hope.

It is a great honor to be the quill that registers these memories, as listener, reader, and interlocutor venturing into making symbolic associations, seeking to understand the meaning of life.

Throughout history, ideological or religious conflicts such as Nazism, Judaism and Christianity, have caused a deep violence against a decent sense of being human. We have all denied God by standing against each other, while seeking to be righteous, and eventually causing inhumane disasters and invaluable deaths. In the case of the Jewish people, culture is intrinsically linked to religion.

Our name, as well as the ancestors and descendants, is among the most significant links we create in search of an identity and meaning in life, and, at times, it can be charged with symbology.

Feuerstein carries two strong elements: “feuer” = fire, and “stein” = stone.

Used as foundation for edification, the stone has had an important significance in the identity construction of various peoples and civilizations. In Gilgal, there were 12 stones placed in a circle to recall the 12 tribes of Israel. A stone has also served as pillow to the dream in which God revealed to Jacob his loyalty, and the promise of innumerable offspring.

For some people, the sacred character of certain stones was reinforced by the fact that they could make fire with the friction of two of them.

Fire, which seems to have life, because it consumes, heats and lights, has been considered by various peoples as something sacred, purifying and regenerating, but also for causing pain and death, as something ambivalent.

Symbolically, God was in the image of a pillar of fire to lead the Jewish people through the desert, to free them from slavery in Egypt, and make them reach the Promised Land.

Likewise, Christ is both the cornerstone on which the church is built, for forgiving sins, overcoming death and resurrecting, and also for taking the form of tongues of fire, for ceasing the confusion of meanings.

He died so that whoever believes in him may enjoy eternal life. There is no greater love than that of a father who gave his life for the child not to die, and thus, be able to survive in eternity.

Feuerstein carries survival instincts! And that is what this book is about.”

                                                                                                                                       Irene Sinnecker Levin