BAYONNE -- Sami Steigmann doesn't remember what medical experiments the Nazis did to him as a child but after more than 70 years, they still cause him pain every day.

Despite that suffering, the 75-year-old Holocaust survivor says he has stopped thinking of himself as one of the "victims" who were imprisoned and abused at a Nazi labor camp in Mogilev Podolski, Ukraine.

"I would like to be remembered (as going) from being a victim, to a survivor, to, today, being a moral witness, teaching (students) to become better people," he told The Jersey Journal.

In a presentation today to hundreds of 7th graders visiting Bayonne High School, Steigmann shared his life story, citing other difficult experiences such as being homeless at one point in New York and being unable to see his grandchildren.

In the face of every challenge, he championed inner strength, encouraging the students with phrases like: "Whatever happens in life...never give up" and "Each one of you individually can make a difference in this world."

After explaining to students that tensions within his own family have prevented him from seeing his grandchildren, Steigmann said he still had "the need" to teach and to share, "like any parent or grandparent."

"Since I cannot do it to my grandchildren, for this time...that we are together, all of you have become my children," he said.

Earlier in the presentation, which was attended by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patricia McGeehan and Bayonne Holocaust survivors Regina Resnick and Katie Berces, Bayonne High School teacher and Holocaust studies scholar Gene Woods gave students some additional information.

Among other things, he pointed out that the Holocaust is referred to as "Shoah" (catastrophe) in Hebrew, and that 11 million people -- including 6 million Jews -- were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators.

Despite being educated, the Nazis still carried out the Holocaust; engineers built gas chambers, physicians poisoned children, nurses killed infants, and college graduates murdered people, Woods noted.

"It's great to be smart. But you need to take your education and do good things," he told the students.

After the program ended, 12-year-old Nancy Sawirees of Lincoln Community School told The Jersey Journal she felt she had learned something new.

"I thought it was very educational, and it helped me to understand the Holocaust," she said, adding that she planned on sharing her knowledge with other people.

Jonathan Lin may be reached at jlin@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @jlin_jj. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.