Holocaust Survivor Visits BCC

Seventy years after thousands of Jews were liberated from the Auschwitz death camp, one survivor came to Bristol Community College to talk about the experience.

90 year old Esther Bauer spoke in front of a packed auditorium about her experiences as a young Jewish girl in Nazi occupied Germany, and the horrors she witnessed.

Bauer said although many people knew about Auschwitz, most didn't understand why the Nazis were taking Jews. She described her father thinking they had done nothing wrong, therefore, would be safe from the Nazis.

"He was completely wrong," Bauer said. Her father and mother later died at the hands of the Nazi's.

Bauer spoke about moving between concentration camps. During her trip to Auschwitz, she said they were told to throw away any food, or it would be taken away. A women next to Bauer threw her bread off the train, and was immediately shot dead. It was then that she knew what type of place Auschwitz was.

Bauer's message to audience members was to never allow such inhumanity to happen again. She urged the United States to take action against similar human rights violations happening in the Middle East and Africa.