Holocaust survivors to speak at Kirtland AFB

  • Published
  • By Stefan Bocchino
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
KIRTLAND AFB, N.M. --  The Kirtland Air Force Base Holocaust Remembrance ceremony will be at 10 a.m. April 17 at the base chapel.

The guest speakers will be two Holocaust survivors, Shoshana Dubman and Werner Gellert.

Dubman, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, was born in a displaced persons camp for Holocaust survivors soon after World War II. She was raised by her mother's sister, who also survived the Holocaust after Dubman's mother died. Their family is from a small village in southern Poland.

Her aunt told her that when the Germans came there, her grandparents said they were too old to leave, but that their children should leave. Dubman said she believes there were four siblings in the family, but that she has no idea what happened to her uncles.

"The people who raised me survived the war against all odds, underground," said Dubman. "My uncle went to Russia and joined the Russian army. My aunt survived by her wits as a teenager. She got a job with the SS as a secretary after getting papers proving she was a Christian."

She said her aunt has secrets, including where Dubman comes from. Dubman said her aunt has Alzheimer's, so she will never know her own story. Dubman's mother and aunt met at a displaced persons camp after the war and decided to go back to their village in Poland.

"My mother was killed on our trip back to Poland," said Dubman. "From there, I was put in an orphanage in Mannheim, Germany, for about five years."

Her aunt came back to get her when she and her family got papers to go to the U.S. Dubman says that it wasn't until she was 17 that she found out her aunt was not her mother.

Werner Gellert was born in Breslau, Germany, in 1926. Gellert witnessed "Kristallnacht," a series of coordinated attacks against Jews throughout Germany and parts of Austria on Nov. 9 and 10, 1938.

"I saw our beautiful synagogue burning," said Gellert. "I witnessed the burning of prayer books. Life became very precarious. My father was taken to the Buchenwald concentration camp. I was too young."

Gellert said life became unbearable in Germany for his family. He had to resort to begging in the streets. His mother had to promise to take the family and leave Germany with none of their possessions in order for his father to be released from Buchenwald.

"We went to Switzerland, but were kicked out because we didn't have any money," said Gellert. "From there, we went to Italy, but were given 48 hours to leave the country. Then we went to North Africa, but the British kicked us out. Finally, we found out that there was an international settlement in Shanghai, China, that did not require any passports. That's how we ended up there."

While they were there, the Japanese army invaded China. The Japanese put all the refugees into huge ghettos. During that time, Gellert said he learned a number of languages that helped him later in life.

"When the Americans came, I was hired as a translator," said Gellert. "I was a rare commodity in that I spoke several languages, including Japanese and Chinese."

Later, he joined the Army Air Corps and worked in intelligence. He was in the Air Force Reserve for 25 years.

Two Airmen from Kirtland AFB met and learned from the Holocaust survivors. They were Tech. Sgt. Jeramy Scarbrough and Senior Airman Vanessa McNeil from the 377th Security Forces Squadron.

"Ms. Dubman helped show me that human rights are what need to be valued," said McNeil. "There have been many other genocides after the Holocaust. I have a better understanding of the Holocaust and world history and how to treat people."

Scarbrough spent his time with Gellert.

"The biggest thing I learned from Mr. Gellert was his compassion and wanting people to understand we are all the same when we look beneath our skin," said Scarbrough. "He holds no grudges on what happened to him and his family. His priority in life is to educate others."

The most important thing both Gellert and Dubman said for people to learn from the Holocaust was that human rights must be protected at all costs.

"Some people wonder why we are still talking about the Holocaust, when there have been so many other genocides," said Dubman. "It's really the only genocide that was so meticulous. There hasn't been anything like it in history, and the world was silent. The world is still not where it should be, but it is better. I think because of the Holocaust, more people are paying attention."