Survivors share stories
in book
By Dave Stephens
Assistant
Campus Editor
After surviving the Holocaust, they built successful
careers, raised families and put the horrors of genocide behind them.
Some were still reluctant to talk about what they
had seen when approached by William Laird Kleine-Ahlbrandt, but 12 members
of Purdue’s faculty were willing to tell their story.
Kleine-Ahlbrandt’s book "Bitter Prerequisites:
A Faculty for Survival from Nazi Terror," tells the story of how Purdue
faculty members survived the Holocaust and went on to lead successful
lives.
On Saturday, as part of the 20th annual Holocaust
Remembrance Conference, four of the Holocaust survivors, along with
Kleine-Ahlbrandt, discussed why they wanted their stories of survival
told and how the telling of their stories has affected them.
"I thought it was probably a good idea to participate
because I wanted to bring more knowledge to the event I call ‘Germany’s
war against the Jews,’" said Fritz Cohen, professor emeritus of
German.
Cohen said that although he went on to a successful
life, the terror of the Holocaust is still a part of him.
"I still have occasional dreams of abandonment,
where nobody knows me … of not knowing what to do," said Cohen.
"The dreams have been more frequent since (Kleine-Ahlbrandt) did the
interviews."
Cohen said that participating in the book project
made him realize he needed to share his story with his family.
"Some recollections are so deeply humiliating that
I never talked about them. Even my own children have asked, ‘why
haven’t you talked about that?’" said Cohen.
Leon Trachtman, who was an American prisoner of
war from New York City, was put into a concentration camp in Germany
because he was Jewish.
Trachtman said it is important not to think that
atrocities like these are things of the past.
"The mutual killing going on all over the globe
… any people under the right conditions are capable of that," said
Trachtman.
Joseph Haberar, professor emeritus of political
science, survived the Nazi terror that killed his parents by being sent
to England when he was 10.
Haberar said that he has seen so much misery in
the world it’s sometimes hard to concentrate on one issue at a
time.
"One of the questions I face, and I don’t
do very well with it, is this question of what particular question,
or issue, do I pay attention to," said Haberar.
No matter what impact the Holocaust left on their
lives, all involved were glad they had a chance to share their story.
"On a very personal level, I do hope my recollections
will honor those who we had to leave behind," said Cohen.
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