Students hear personal tale from Holocaust

This News by You was submitted by Cindy Hafer of Jess Schwartz College Prep.

Juniors at Jess Schwartz College Prep: The Jewish Community's High school in northeast Phoenix were visited by Holocaust survivor Joseph Leinburd, who spoke about his experiences in a concentration labor camp in Transnistria, in the southwestern part of Ukraine.

"Over 300,000 Jewish men, women and children perished in over 130 extermination camps in this unfamiliar area," Leinburd said, "from being murdered, freezing to death or from hunger and disease."

Leinburd was 17 years old when the German armies invaded Poland. Their rapid advance emboldened the anti-Semitic Romanian government. "A chapter of horror and terror erupted all over the country. Crimes were committed by the entire state apparatus, and yesterday's friends and neighbors became hostile overnight," he said. "The Holocaust started in Romania in 1940, and the world stood by."

It was the first time Lori Pollock, Leinburd's daughter and a JSCP employee, heard her father tell his story publicly.

"Neither one of my parents talked about their experiences in our home when we were growing up," she said.

When Leinburd was asked what he would advise the students, he responded, "It's very important to go forward with your lives, but it's also very important never to forget what took place."