Holocaust survivor Leon Malmed speaks to fourth and fifth-graders at Meneley Elementary on Wednesday.
He told the students of his parent’s deportation and consequent deaths at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Malmed was born in 1937 in France and after the Nazis conquered France his parents were taken to the camp and he and his sister were hidden by a French couple.
He is a Carson Valley resident, who has written his memoirs and has spoken to groups in the U.S. Europe and South America.
He shared the heroic promise made by the neighbors who, at the risk of their own lives, chose to care for and hide Leon and his sister from the Nazi regime for the duration of WWII.
One student asked Malmed how he was able to stay strong in the midst of famine, war, and fear for his life.
He spoke of finding joy in the small things such as the orange he received for Christmas, but most of all he took comfort in the loving and courageous acts of his neighbors who saved his life.
He encouraged the students to value the privileges that come with freedom, especially their education.
He implored them to learn their history, in order that they might make a stand for peace.
