Holocaust survivor and Dayton-area resident Sam Lauber spoke Friday evening at the Hillel Foundation's Holocaust Awareness and Remembrance Service, detailing to the audience his personal experiences in hiding during World War II.

"There are gaps in my story," he warned the audience, which was 140 in attendance. "My parents never discussed what happened."

Lauber was born in 1942 in Belgium in the midst of World War II when Jews were being taken and placed in concentration camps. At the age of three, he was placed by his mother into the care of a family in Lalouviere an effort to keep him alive. He assumed a middle name, Dede, that was less distinctly Jewish and remained in hiding for nine months.

"The day to day," Lauber recalls, "was like a lifetime."

During that time, Lauber vaguely remembers playing with his friend, a boy his own age. Lauber knows very little from his time in hiding but that he often asked his young friend what sorts of things were going on in the outside world.

"I do, though, recall Santa Claus giving me a wooden train set," Lauber said, smiling. "It made me very happy."

He also remembers his parent's eventual decision to depart for America.

"They said it was time we leave Belgium," Lauber said. "It was time we leave Europe. It was time we go to the United States."

Many other refugees made the passage to the United States along with Lauber and his family. He reflected on the chaotic atmosphere of the ship, all aboard being checked for disease and questioned about their intended destination.

"The babble of languages … I understood no one," Lauber said. "I was lost."

In his adult years, Lauber was afforded an opportunity to meet with the family that hid him for those nine months and were responsible for saving his life. It was an emotional reunion.

"And how did I know they were the right family?" he asked the audience. "They showed me pictures of me."

The Miami University Association of Jewish Students presented Lauber with a certificate following his testimony and had planted a tree in Israel in his honor.

According to the Holocaust Remembrance 2007's coordinator, senior Jenny Jacob, the tree was planted in the Holocaust Memorial Garden-a garden planted to remember the 1.5 million children who were killed during the Holocaust.

"This has special significance in this case because (Lauber) was a child during the Holocaust," Jacob said.

She added that though only 65 people were expected to attend, 140 people actual arrived to hear the speaker.

"Most of them were non-Jewish which is great since we are the last generation able to hear these stories first-hand," Jacob said. "It was a great feeling that people actually cared about it and were engaged with the speaker afterwards."

First-year Alyssa Mellini was one such student.

"Even though I'm not personally Jewish, I came tonight because I like listening to people's stories," Mellini said. "People like (Lauber) didn't give up. It is hard, though, to think that 6 million people did die in the Holocaust."

According to the Holocaust Research Project, 6 million people were killed in Poland alone but roughly 13 million people died in the Holocaust.

Nov. 9-10 marks the 69th anniversary of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, an event in which the German Reich attacked and looted Jewish homes, synagogues and businesses, and desecrated their cemeteries killing about 100 people, according to the Holocaust Research Project.

"Right now, as a community, there is really a push for genocide awareness," said sophomore Marissa Sims, vice president of communication for the Association of Jewish Students. "We need to remain educated and continue to contribute to help stop it."

Amy Greenbaum, director of the Hillel Foundation, expresses similar sentiments.

"(Lauber) is among the youngest of the survivors," she said. "It's very important that we hear these different stories. Not everyone's experience was the same … It's my fervent hope that stories like this awaken us to not be bystanders."

Lauber's story is available in The Holocaust Survivors' Cookbook, along with 128 other stories of endurance, as well as countless recipes and photos. The book can be purchased at survivorcookbook.org and all proceeds go to Carmei Ha'ir, a soup kitchen in the market district of Jerusalem.

Additional reporting by Megan Weiland.