SPRING 2019 LECTURES
seven myths about the holocaust
A presentation by Werner Reich, author, magician, and survivor
Tuesday, April 2
7:00 PM, Gannett Auditorium, Palamountain Hall
Free and open to the public
Werner and his family were residents of Berlin, Germany when the Nazis came to power in 1933. His father, an electrical and mechanical engineer lost his job thereafter, prompting the family to move to Zagreb, Yugoslavia. His father died in 1940; in 1941 the Nazis occupied Yugoslavia. Werner’s mother placed him in hiding with several families. The last one worked for the resistance movement and Werner helped them in this work. In 1943 he was arrested by the Gestapo, beaten up and jailed for 7 weeks and then sent to Theresienstadt and then Auschwitz II where he went through, in one day, three selections by Dr. Mengele. He was one of 89 who were chosen out of 60,000 – the others did not survive. He was then sent to Auschwitz I. In January 1945, after a 7 day death march, he ended in Mauthausen, Austria. After liberation in May 1945, he returned to Yugoslavia and after two years escaped to England where he worked as a laborer and later became a tool and die maker. In 1955, he married a woman who had been saved by Sir Nicholas Winton. They immigrated to the United States where he eventually became an engineer. He has two sons and four grandchildren. Werner is a frequent speaker and founding member of the LI Multi-faith Forum.
Co-sponsored by Jewish Student Life and the Office of Student Diversity Programs, with a generous donation from the Dolores Kohl Educational Foundation.
About the Jacob Perlow Series: A generous grant from the estate of Jacob Perlow - an immigrant to the United States in the 1920s, a successful business man deeply interested in religion and philosophy, and a man who was committed to furthering Jewish education - supports annual lectures and presentations to the College and Capital District community on issues broadly related to Jews and Judaism.