Steven Hess, a Rochester resident, and Holocaust educator will share his personal story of survival on Wednesday, April 29th at 7:30 PM Eastern Time over Zoom. Please see the website link below for access to the presentation. Steven and his twin sister, Marion were born in Amsterdam on January 14, 1938. His parents, Ilse and Karl, fled Germany two years earlier believing that Holland would provide a safe haven. With the invasion of the Nazis in May 1940, however, hope for a neutral Holland was shattered. In mid-1943, his family was taken to Westerbork, the Dutch transit camp that served as a gateway to Auschwitz, Theresienstadt and Bergen Belsen. The following February they were sent to Bergen Belsen where conditions were so horrific that by the end of the year, nearly 15,000 Jews died each month from starvation, disease, neglect, and maltreatment. Marion and Steven were among very few children to stay alive. Please join the Ithaca Area United Jewish Community and Hillel at Ithaca College for this important evening in which we will witness the story of one survivor and reaffirm our commitment that genocide should never happen again.
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