Holocaust Remembrance Day: 93-year-old survivor tells her story in Farmington Hills

A 93-year-old holocaust survivor spoke in Farmington Hills, as Monday was Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

The backstory:

Rae Nachbar was seven years old back in 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Her sister was taken to Auschwitz while her and her family packed up and moved from Poland to Russia, where she lived in a penal colony. 

Her parents were killed along the way. 

In 1948, Rae immigrated to the United States.

Local perspective:

On Monday, nearly 80 years later, Rae spoke at the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills about her experience. 

"I don’t think that anyone anticipated how the Germans were going to end up," she said. "I heard adults talking and they were concerned. I did not understand politics then the way I do now."

Eli Mayerfeld is the CEO of the ZeKelman Holocaust Center, who talked about the day Auschwitz was liberated by Soviet forces. It is also a reason to always remember the Holocaust.

"Auschwitz is the place where 1 million Jews were murdered and about 100,000 enemies of the Nazis were murdered as well," he said. 

What's next:

Congresswoman Haley Stevens decided to hear what Rae had to say, but she is also introducing a bill on Monday that would mandate Holocaust education in schools receiving federal money.

"It’s really quite remarkable, bipartisan legislation that will include a requirement for this type of learning," she said. "So whether you have a Ziegelman in your community, and again the history of this center is so important."

Rae is happy about teaching Holocaust education, but upset that there are still people that deny the Holocaust ever existed.

"They’re stupid," she said. "That’s number one. And they’re not just ignorant, they are vicious, because how can you say it didn’t happen when there’s so much evidence that it did."

The Source: FOX 2 talked with Holocaust survivor Rae Nachbar and Congresswoman Haley Stevens.

Farmington HillsHistoryMichigan