International Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration 2024

Marking the liberation of Auschwitz, International Holocaust Remembrance Day allows us to reflect upon the profound tragedy of the Holocaust. We also come together to share a moment of peace and hope for the future. The commemoration began with a screening of a Museum-produced short film about hidden children during the Holocaust, Hidden Children: Secret Sanctuaries (linked here: • Hidden Children: Secre... . The individuals featured in this conversation are the local survivors featured in the film.
About the Panelists
Paul Kessler was born in Vranov Nad Toplou, Slovakia in 1939. After his father was captured by the Nazis in 1944, he and his family escaped the village and sheltered until they were again forced to flee. Kessler and his mother hid in a neighbor’s field covered with dirt, grass, leaves, and manure for approximately 8 months. He was the only Jewish child in his village who survived the war.
Rosian Zerner was born in Kaunas (Kovno), Lithuania. When Germany invaded in 1941, Zerner and her family were confined to the Kovno Ghetto. When she was six, her parents helped her escape through a hole they dug under the ghetto fence. She was met by her father’s secretary and hidden by several rescuers before being liberated by Soviet troops in 1944.
Max Spindler was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1938. When deportations for Belgian Jews started in 1943, Max's parents worked with the Belgian and Jewish underground resistance to find hiding places for Max and his younger brother, Gerard. Max survived the war in Catholic orphanages, while Gerard was adopted by a nurse's family. After the war, a family friend reunited the boys and took them to a Jewish children's orphanage, which moved them to Israel.
Presented in conjunction with the Candy Brown Holocaust and Human Rights Educator Series, generously supported by Candy and Ike Brown.