Holocaust survivor shares story
Speaker fought for survival in death camp as young boy
Tim Pfarr
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: News
Holocaust survivor Leslie Aigner spoke to a full crowd in the Milam auditorium Wednesday night, sharing stories of the horrors and atrocities he and his wife Eva faced during World War II.
Eva Aigner was also scheduled to speak, but was ill and unable to attend.
"This is really the highlight in any memorial," said Thomas Sherry, member of the Holocaust Memorial Committee.
The presentation began with a short video about the Oregon Holocaust Memorial in Portland's Washington Park and continued with Aigner's account of the Holocaust.
"These experiences are far fetched from that of your peaceful lives," Aigner said, walking across the stage behind the four informational poster boards. "I'm not telling you these stories so you will feel sorry for me. I feel I'm the luckiest man alive. I survived, and 11 million didn't."
As a 10-year-old boy living in Czechoslovakia, Aigner was first separated from his father and sent to live in a Budapest ghetto where he remained for about a month before being sent to Auschwitz.
"Shortly after arriving [in Auschwitz], I realized food equals life," Aigner said. He distinctly remembers pointing out the crematorium and mistaking it for a bakery.
Aigner spent nearly four months in the camp and witnessed countless atrocities. He recalls watching the medical experimentation building.
"Through that barbed wire I saw life dwindling away," Aigner said. He witnessed all pairs of twins, young and old, being separated for experimentation.
The audience sat in silence as he spoke words that were broken apart by long pauses.
Aigner said the everyday horrors of Auschwitz were too much for some prisoners and many ended their own lives in the night by clinging to the electric fence. The next day, those who remained were forced to break the knuckles of the deceased to remove them.
Aigner escaped from the camp by exchanging his rations of bread for the clothing of a prisoner being deported from the camp.
Eva Aigner was also scheduled to speak, but was ill and unable to attend.
"This is really the highlight in any memorial," said Thomas Sherry, member of the Holocaust Memorial Committee.
The presentation began with a short video about the Oregon Holocaust Memorial in Portland's Washington Park and continued with Aigner's account of the Holocaust.
"These experiences are far fetched from that of your peaceful lives," Aigner said, walking across the stage behind the four informational poster boards. "I'm not telling you these stories so you will feel sorry for me. I feel I'm the luckiest man alive. I survived, and 11 million didn't."
As a 10-year-old boy living in Czechoslovakia, Aigner was first separated from his father and sent to live in a Budapest ghetto where he remained for about a month before being sent to Auschwitz.
"Shortly after arriving [in Auschwitz], I realized food equals life," Aigner said. He distinctly remembers pointing out the crematorium and mistaking it for a bakery.
Aigner spent nearly four months in the camp and witnessed countless atrocities. He recalls watching the medical experimentation building.
"Through that barbed wire I saw life dwindling away," Aigner said. He witnessed all pairs of twins, young and old, being separated for experimentation.
The audience sat in silence as he spoke words that were broken apart by long pauses.
Aigner said the everyday horrors of Auschwitz were too much for some prisoners and many ended their own lives in the night by clinging to the electric fence. The next day, those who remained were forced to break the knuckles of the deceased to remove them.
Aigner escaped from the camp by exchanging his rations of bread for the clothing of a prisoner being deported from the camp.
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posted 5/20/08 @ 6:33 PM PST
the holocaust is a sad story no matter what way you out it, but i think that the creator of this article did a good job.
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