Cleveland State Community College will be hosting Holocaust survivor Esther Bauer to campus on Tuesday, March 19, at 6:30 p.m. in the George R. Johnson Cultural Heritage Center.
Ms. Bauer was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1924. Her father, Dr. Alberto Jonas was the principal of the Jewish Girls School, and her mother, Dr. Marie Anna Jonas was a medical doctor. On July 19, 1942, Ms. Bauer, her mother, and her father were deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto in Czechoslovakia, where from one minute to the next they were prisoners. Her father died six weeks later of meningitis. After two years there, she married, because her then friend, not yet husband, got the order to be sent with many others to the city of Dresden to build up a new ghetto. That was, of course, a lie. He and the other men wound up in Auschwitz. After the men had left, their spouses were told they could go voluntarily after their husbands. Esther went and they all landed in Auschwitz where her husband was murdered. On Oct. 10, 1944, Esther’s mother was herself deported to Auschwitz and was murdered there. Esther survived. Esther was exuberant upon being liberated, and decided to “live each day, have fun and be a human being.”
"Ms. Bauer has been described as ‘a treasure’ and ‘a ball of energy’ and has the personality to fill a room,” said Tracey Wright, director of Special Programs and Community Relations. “I am excited that our community will have the opportunity to hear her first-hand accounts of her horrific experiences as she endured the Holocaust. This is truly a must attend event!”
Registering for this event is not required; however, it will ensure a seat for the program.
For more information on this event or other special events, call 423 473-2341, or to reserve a seat for this particular event, visit the website at http://mycs.cc/holocaust-survivor.