Holocaust program pairs survivors with Palo Alto teens
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The Mercury News

By Jacqueline Lee

It was her mother’s intuition that spared Denise Elbert from the gas chambers during the Jewish Holocaust in World War II.

Samantha Alvarez and Denise Elbert

Elbert was 9 months old in 1942 when she boarded a train headed for Sobibor with her mom and dad. Young Jewish Slovakian families, like the Elberts, had been told they were needed to help build a major German city, and locals lined the platform to see them off.

When Elbert’s mother spotted a good childhood friend, she decided to ask the friend to care for her daughter until the couple got settled in the new city.

None of the Jewish families knew then that Sobibor was a death camp.

“I think it was pure instinct,” Elbert said, “and that saved me.”

Elbert, 75, of Sunnyvale, knows her story is unique in that she is one of the younger survivors of the Holocaust.

Because of this, she willingly shares her story with young people through the Holocaust Center’s Next Chapter program, which pairs survivors with teens and regularly engages in a speaker series.

Read the full article at The Mercury News >

Posted by Admin on January 5, 2017