The Multicultural Center and others will continue the tradition of bringing a Holocaust survivor to OU.
John Koenigsburg spent three years of his childhood, from the ages of 5 to 8, hidden from the Nazis by a Catholic family in Limsburg, which is a province in the Netherlands, during the Holocaust. While his father fought with the Dutch resistance, some of his family members were killed.
Koenigsburg, a Columbus resident, will speak Thursday at the seventh annual Holocaust Memorial Program on his experiences in Holland during the war. The event will be held at 7 p.m. in Baker Center Ballroom B.
Koenigsburg, who grew up in Amsterdam, will take questions from audience members following his lecture.
Winsome Chunnu-Brayda, strategic director for Diversity and Inclusion and Multicultural Programs and Initiatives, said although it is the seventh year a Holocaust survivor has spoken, she has heard individualized stories each year.
“Every year, I think I’m going to hear the same story, and I do not,” she said. “Every year the story is different, and it’s just as compelling.”
Chunnu-Brayda, who is one of the main organizers of the event, also said hearing a firsthand account of a historical event can help give listeners a different perspective.
“You can read about events, but it is a very different way to experience (it) by having a conversation with someone who was actually there,” she said. “That firsthand account makes it, for me, even more meaningful.”
Chunnu-Brayda said the speakers always end with the lesson of forgiveness and a call to action to end hate and violence when they are recognized.
”We are responsible for ending atrocities in the world, and when we see injustices it is our responsibility to speak up,” she said.
Hillel at Ohio University will cosponsor the event, and Lauren Goldberg, assistant director of Hillel, said hundreds of people typically attend the Holocaust remembrance event.
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She said the event takes place in mid-April every year to coincide with Yom Hashoah, the Israeli remembrance day for the Holocaust, which takes place May 4. Goldberg said it is important to listen to the stories of survivors because there are few left alive to tell those stories.
“This is one of the last moments in history where you will be able to have this powerful experience,” she said. “If we don’t remember and we don’t listen to the stories of survivors and we aren’t able to pass down this terrible memory, the fear is that this could happen again. It’s our responsibility to make sure it never does.”
Hillel also will continue its “Got Swabbed?” bone marrow drive after the event as another example of the need to save lives.
“We say to save just one life is like saving the entire world,” Goldberg said. “In a way, to potentially save a life by getting swabbed after the Holocaust memorial program is in a direct way not just saving the life of the person who you would donate to, but honoring the memory of all those who lost their lives.”
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