"Bearing Witness for My Family" Holocaust Remembrance Program

Talk by Jerry Zaks

After retiring in 2016 from a successful career in IT, Jerry began a quest  - researching and documenting the history of his parents’ experiences and hardships growing up in Poland in the 1930’s.  Starting with a 2-hour audio interview of his parents in 1980, Jerry has spent years researching to fill in the details of his parents' experiences to tell their story. Jerry’s presentation is comprised of historical records, actual Nazi documentation and audio clips from the 1980 interview.  The presentation is not a history lesson, but a deeply personal story about the human experience of the Holocaust.  His presentation, “Bearing Witness for my Family: Surviving the Holocaust”, shows that survival is dependent on your own strength as well as the actions of good people who were resistors to the violence and murder.  The story begins in 1937, when his parents were 17 and 18 years old, traces their lives pre WWII, how they survived multiple concentration camps and death marches, and how they eventually rebuilt their lives in America.  Adults only.  Registration required.