LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Auschwitz survivor and President of the Holocaust Educational Foundation Theodore Weiss will be the guest speaker at the Team Lackland Holocaust Remembrance Observance May 20 at 10:30 a.m. at Freedom Chapel.
Col. Edward Westermann, 737th Training Group commander and Holocaust scholar, instrumental in securing the speaker, will give the opening perspective.
"I think it's so important and vital that people get to meet and hear a Holocaust survivor speak," said Chaplain (Capt.) Sarah Schechter. "There is nothing like hearing a firsthand account of the horrors that they went through."
The observance is of special significance to Chaplain Schechter, who lost family members in the mass killings.
"It's important and personal to me because I had family murdered by the Nazis," said Chaplain Schechter. "They were rounded up in front of their village, told to start digging and they were all assassinated and thrown into a mass grave pit."
The relatives had immigrated to the United States earlier but returned to Austria because they were homesick. Chaplain Schechter's great grandmother remained in the States.
"When someone can get away with killing 6 million Jews before he is stopped, the world and especially our military must reflect on this so it doesn't happen again," said Chaplain (Capt.) Bryan McClain.
Mr. Weiss will share some of his experiences as a Holocaust survivor and then answer questions from the audience.
The Holocaust Educational Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1980 by Holocaust survivors, their children and friends in order to preserve and promote awareness of the reality of the Holocaust.
A light food reception will follow the observance that is open to open to those with access to Lackland AFB. For more information, call Chaplain Schechter at 671-2881 or Chaplain McClain at 671-4208.