Holocaust Survivors To Speak in Greenwich

The Greenwich Historical Society has invited three Holocaust survivors to discuss their experiences living in hiding as children during World War II.

Agnes Vertes of Weston, who was a child in Budapest during the war, will lead the program, which takes place April 3 at 2 p.m. at the society’s Vanderbilt Education Center. It is co-sponsored by the Jewish Historical Society of Lower Fairfield County and is part of Greenwich Reads Together. This year’s selection is Markus Zusak’s “The Book Thief,” the story of a foster girl, living near Munich, who learns to read and shares stolen books with her neighbors, including a Jewish man hidden in her basement who is eventually sent to Dachau.

In the spirit of “The Book Thief,” each panelist will share his or her story of triumph as a child hidden in the face of overwhelming adversity and loss.

Vertes, a businesswoman and president of Holocaust Child Survivors of Connecticut, has produced two award-winning films on the Holocaust — “One Out of Ten,” about the experiences of child survivors, and “Passport to Life,” about diplomats who saved Jews in Budapest.

Panelist Marian Nachman was born in Holland in 1938 and remained hidden throughout the war by her father’s business associate. Nachman came to America in 1946 to live with her aunt and uncle in New York City. Her parents died in a concentration camp.

Panelist R. Daniel Vock was born in Paris in 1933 and moved constantly during the war to avoid capture. He immigrated to the United States in 1951.

The Vanderbilt Education Center is 39 Strickland Road in Cos Cob. Admission to the program is free. For more information, call (203) 869-6899, ext. 10, or by email.

If you’ve read “The Book Thief,” please share your thoughts about the book below?

 

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