Andreas Goldner reflects on the horrors of the Holocaust
Andreas Goldner and his parents crossed the German border into France on Nov. 9, 1938 — a date now remembered as Kristal Nacht, or the Night of Broken Glass.
That night, as Nazis broke the windows of Jewish stores and burned their synagogues, Goldner’s uncle was arrested along with more than 20,000 Jewish males.
On April 8, Goldner will share his personal story of survival and reflect on how the horrors of the Holocaust could have happened in a lecture sponsored by Willamette University’s Jewish Student Union.
The free event, which will commemorate the Jewish holiday, Yom Ha’ Shoah, will begin at 5 p.m. in the Hatfield Room of the Hatfield Library.
More than 6 million Jews died during the Holocaust, among them Goldner’s grandparents, aunt and uncles. If he hadn’t been able to escape to the United States, Goldner says he would have had a less than 7 percent chance of survival in Germany.
Jessica Sternbach, president of the Jewish Student Union, says Yom Ha’ Shoah reminds people to remember the Holocaust in the hope that this type tragedy will never happen again.
“I want people to realize that Yom Ha' Shoah is not just a Jewish event — it touches everyone,” she says.
“Yom Ha' Shoah is a wake-up call that genocide is happening now and we have the power to stop it.”
The event is sponsored by the Jewish Student Union and supported by Campus Ambassadors, Students Against Slavery and Willamette University's Religious Studies Department.
For more information contact Jessica Sternbach at email@example.com.