Central Oregon Community College’s Jewish Students Club presents:
A Holocaust Remembrance Day Event: In Their Own Words – Holocaust Survivors Hans Biglajzer (1926 – 2017) and David Stoliar (1922 – 2014)
Hans Biglajzer
David Stoliar
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1 AT 5 P.M. IN COATS CAMPUS CENTER (WILLE HALL)
Using archived video footage, you will meet long-time Bend residents Hans Biglajzer and David Stoliar, local Holocaust survivors and heroes, and hear their incredible stories from World War II. Then, family members will answer questions and friends will be invited to share memories of Hans and David.
Hans Biglajzer was a German Jew who was only 13 when he lived through the terror of Kristallnacht. Against tremendous odds, he survived the Lodz ghetto and Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps. He settled in Clackamas, Oregon after the war with his family and became a nationally-known saddle maker and leather worker. When he retired, he and his wife Doris moved to Bend.
David Stoliar was the sole survivor of the worst civilian maritime disaster of WWII, the sinking of the Struma, a refugee ship taking Romanian Jews to Palestine. The Struma was torpedoed by a Russian submarine in the Black Sea on February 24, 1942 killing all 800 passengers except 19-year-old David Stoliar, who was the sole survivor. After the war, he lived in many countries before moving to Bend with his wife, Marda.
The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. For more information, please contact Pat Givens at pgivens or Polly Vishner at pvishner.