SEMO series features talks by survivors of Holocaust

Holocaust survivors Rudy Oppenheim and Rachel Miller will help commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day, which started Sunday night, during a weeklong educational series titled "Hidden Children of the Holocaust" at Southeast Missouri State University.

"We try to teach what the Holocaust taught us about intolerance and injustice," said 75-year-old Oppenheim, who survived the Holocaust as a child. "Intolerance and injustice cannot be tolerated today."

Southeast's schedule of events will start with the film "Weapons of the Spirit" at 6 p.m. today in the University Center Ballroom.

Miller, 70, will be the keynote speaker of a presentation from noon to 1:20 p.m. Wednesday in the University Center Ballroom. She will discuss her experiences and show photos of her family, several of whom she never knew. A discussion panel will be held from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in Glenn Auditorium of Robert A. Dempster Hall. The panel will feature Miller, Oppenheim and Dr. Mitchel Gerber, a Southeast professor of political science.

In addition to 6 million Jews, 5 million Nazi-categorized "undesirables" were also killed in the Holocaust.

Because people of many backgrounds were killed during the the Holocaust, it is a period that can be studied and applied to modern-day genocide in any country, said Miller, who also survived the Holocaust as a child. Genocide still exists in several countries, she said.

"We should not be bystanders," she said. "We should stand and be counted, because silence gives permission."

Born in 1933 in France, Miller was hidden by her mother in the countryside in France during World War II. She lost 93 family members during the Holocaust and was one of only six survivors in her family.

Later in her life, Miller decided to speak out about the Holocaust because she needed to validate her family and herself, she said. Also, several people deny that the Holocaust even happened, which makes her "want to tell them that I am a survivor, that it existed and that I am here."

Oppenheim will share his experiences and give an overview of the Holocaust during the panel.

Born in 1928 in Elmshorn, Germany, Oppenheim left a German school while his father was in a concentration camp and prepared to go to Holland with 68 other children. His father was then released, which allowed him to stay behind and emigrate with his family and 20,000 other German and Austrian Jews to Shanghai, China.

None in the group sent to Holland survived, Oppenheim said, and that helped motivate him to speak about the Holocaust.

"When you see these things happen, then you volunteer," he said.

jmmetelski@semissourian.com

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