Holocaust Survivor Speaking Schedule

Visit The Florida Holocaust Museum at various times every week to hear Second Generation Survivors share their personal stories, or to take part with our Skype with a Holocaust Survivor program. Their upcoming speaking schedule is as follows:

SCHEDULE: 

Clara Kahn, Second Generation Holocaust Survivor –  Tuesday, March 10 at 10:30 a.m.

Clara Kahn is the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Both her parents were from southeastern Poland. Clara’s parents experienced both Russian and German occupation during the war. Clara’s mother Sally Kleinberg lived with her mother, father, and three sisters. After being separated from her family, Sally managed to reunite with two of her sisters under unlikely circumstances, and thanks to the courage of a non-Jewish farmer who hid them, the three sisters were able to survive.

David Tauber, Clara’s father, was forced to become part of the Red Army and was the only survivor of his family. After the war, David found out of the death of his wife. Eventually, he met Sally and the two were married.

In 1946 Clara was born in a displaced persons camp outside of Nuremberg, Germany where she lived until her family was able to move to New York City in 1949.

Having taught at Hebrew schools for many years, Clara now speaks to student groups about her parents’ experiences. She currently resides in Sarasota, FL.

Ruth Wade, Second Generation Holocaust Survivor – Thursday, March 12 at 10:00 a.m.

Ruth Wade is the daughter of Holocaust Survivor Sidney Finkel, who still speaks in Arizona schools, telling his story accompanied by his memoir and video. He is thrilled about her decision to join him on his journey to educate young people about the lessons of the Holocaust, sharing his story of suffering, perseverance and hope.

As a founding member of the Generations After community in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ruth wrote and led Holocaust Remembrance (Yom HaShoah) services for over 16 years, weaving together the group’s family stories.  Prior to retiring from a large corporation in 2016, she spent many years in executive training roles, developing leaders, franchises and their team members.

Ruth moved to the St. Petersburg area in 2017 and has one son, named after her father’s Survivor brother, Isaac.

David Baras, Second Generation Holocaust Survivor –  Friday, March 13 at 10:00 a.m.

David is the son of Holocaust Survivors and speaks about his parents’ experiences and their effects on him and his family. Besides being a speaker, David is a docent and an active member of the Second Generation group (Generations After) at The Florida Holocaust Museum. As a retired medical doctor, David brings  clinical insights to his parents’ experiences and an understanding of their long term impact. By understanding his parents’ past, David is able to demonstrate how they relate to the present in a way that is understood by children and adults alike.

David is married to Mary Jo Baras, who is also a docent at The Florida Holocaust Museum, and has 3 adult children and 2 grandchildren. David and Mary Jo reside in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Roland Levi, Holocaust Survivor – Friday, March 13 at 12:30 p.m.

Roland Levi was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1939. In 1943, Roland and his sister, Nadya, were enrolled at the Institute de Notre Dame de Sion, where the Sisters accepted the responsibility of hiding the children from the Nazis at the Institute. In 1944, Roland’s mother and father were arrested and taken to the Dossin Barracks in Mechelen and the Belgian Gestapo arrived at the Institute and removed Nadya and Roland from their school. Both children were sent to the Wezembeek Orphanage, eventually be sent to Auschwitz.

After arriving at the train station, a well-educated woman was able to confront the guards and inform them of an agreement between the Nazis, the queen mother Isabella and Cardinal Jozef-Ernest van Roey, stating that Belgian Jewish children under the age of 16 were not to be sent to Auschwitz. She negotiated with guards and obtained the release of numerous Jewish children from the Wezembeek orphanage, including Nadya and Roland. The children were returned to the orphanage.

Roland and Nadya were liberated in September 1944. Roland’s parents survived Auschwitz, but their health had been destroyed and they passed away in the late 1940s.