Four Holocaust survivors share with the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme their reflections on their survival of the Holocaust, and their hopes for the future.
Ms. Ella Blumenthal was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1921 to a large and extended family. In October 1940 she was deported to the Warsaw Ghetto. She survived the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943. The Nazis deported Ms. Blumenthal, her father and her niece Roma to Majdanek death camp. Ms. Blumenthal’s father was beaten on arrival and never seen again by Ms. Blumenthal. Ms. Blumenthal and Roma survived Majdanek. They were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi German concentration and death camp (1941-1945), and later to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where they remained until liberation. Of the 27 members of her immediate family, only Ms. Blumenthal and Roma survived the Holocaust. After the war, Ms. Blumenthal managed to get to Paris and then to Tel Aviv, before moving to South Africa. She lives in Cape Town and has four children, eleven grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren.
[Duration: 02:57]
Mr. Pinchas Gutter was born in ?ód?, Poland in 1932. He was seven when the Second World War began. Mr. Gutter, his twin sister, and his mother, fled disguised as Christians to their aunt in Warsaw. His father followed. The family were incarcerated in the Warsaw Ghetto for three and a half years. When the Warsaw Ghetto uprising began in April 1943, the family hid in a bunker for three weeks before the Nazis discovered them and deported them to Majdanek death camp. The Nazis murdered Mr. Gutter’s father, mother and twin sister on arrival. The Nazis selected Mr. Gutter for slave labour. He survived Majdanek, five other concentration camps including Buchenwald, and a death march from Germany to Czechoslovakia, where he was liberated in 1945 by Soviet troops. He was 13 years old. Under the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, Mr. Gutter was taken to England with other child Holocaust survivors to rehabilitate. Mr. Gutter is married to Dorothy, and their family now spans three generations.
[Duration: 05:35]
Ms. Vered Kater was born in 1943 in Eindhoven, Nazi-occupied Netherlands. Her earliest years were spent in hiding. The Nazis forced her family to hide to survive, but the family was unable to hide together. Fortunately, Ms. Kater’s father worked in the Philips factory. Mr. Frits Philips found a hiding place for all his Jewish employees. Ms. Kater was taken in by Joop and Joke Kuiper and spent her fi rst three years living as their only child. They risked their lives to conceal Ms. Kater’s Jewish identity and shield her from the Nazis and the horrors of the Holocaust. After the war, Ms. Kater decided to become a nurse to help people and has built a legacy as a health worker, traveling to developing countries to administer aid to people in need. She often shares in-depth accounts of her story of survival. In 2019 Ms. Kater delivered her testimony during the annual Holocaust observance organized by the United Nations Information Centre in Yangon, Myanmar.
[Duration: 03:07]
Rabbi Arthur Schneier was born in Vienna, Austria in 1930. As an eight-year-old, he witnessed the burning of his Synagogue during the November Pogrom (Kristallnacht). His grandparents and family perished in Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi German concentration and death camp (1941-1945). He was rescued by Swiss Consul Carl Lutz and the International Red Cross in Budapest. Liberated in 1945, he arrived in the United States in 1947. Senior Rabbi of Park East Synagogue since 1962, he is the Founder and President of the interfaith Appeal of Conscience Foundation to advance religious freedom and human rights. Rabbi Schneier received international recognition for promoting peace, inter-religious cooperation, and for fi ghting hatred. He was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Clinton and knighted by Pope Francis. Rabbi Schneier received the Légion d’honneur and high honours from twelve countries. Ordained by Yeshiva University, he has received twelve honorary degrees. Rabbi Schneier is the former United States Alternate Representative to the United Nations and member of the High-level Group of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. He is married to Elisabeth Nordmann Schneier.
[Duration: 03:34]