Holocaust Survivor Series returns to UACCM

MORRILTON — The University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton will host Holocaust survivor Susan Warsinger as part of the ninth annual Holocaust Survivor Series at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the college’s Fine Arts Auditorium, with doors opening at 6. The event is free and open to the public.

Warsinger will also speak at 10 a.m. in the Sacred Heart Catholic School gymnasium in Morrilton before going into more detail about her experiences during her nighttime lecture.

Warsinger — born Susi Hilsenrath on May 27, 1929 — was the eldest of three children. Her mother took care of the home, while her father owned a thriving linen store in Bad Kreuznach, a city is western Germany. By 1938, Warsinger and her brother, Joseph, were smuggled into France after years of increasing violence and discrimination toward local Jewish citizens.

The two children were eventually evacuated from Paris to the Palace of Versailles and finally immigrated to the U.S. in 1941. The Hilsenrath family was reunited soon after that, later settling in Washington, D.C.

“I experienced some of this horror,” Warsinger said when asked why she volunteers for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “I am compelled by my conscience, and I am honored to join the education movement this museum represents. While guiding our visitors through the permanent exhibit, I teach them about the crimes against humanity that occurred in Europe between 1933 and 1945. …

“When we have finished our tour, our visitors understand that we all must learn from our past errors, that we all must remember what happened and that we all must ensure that such an inhuman assault as the Holocaust never recurs.”

For more information, contact Kristi Strain, special events coordinator, at (501) 977-2081 or strain@uaccm. edu. For assistance with an accommodation need for the event, call Counseling Services at (501) 977-2095.