2008 Woodie Awards
Holocaust survivor speaks to students, community
Laura Crosby
Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: Campus
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.
"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.
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