Doris Edwards

To better understand humanity and where we are today, young people should seek out the stories of older relatives and loved ones, Holocaust survivor Doris Edwards told students.

Born in southern Germany in 1929, as a young girl, Ms. Edwards witnessed the rise of the Nazi party. She and her older brother were evacuated to the Netherlands through the Kindertransport rescue program, while her parents fled to the United States. Her grandmother, along with her aunt and cousins, died in concentration camps. After a dangerous journey through Europe, Ms. Edwards and her brother reunited with their parents in New York City. Ms. Edwards now shares her story through the Facing History and Ourselves nonprofit, an educational program that asks students to examine topics of racism, prejudice and anti-Semitism. Her visit to campus was sponsored by the Jewish Student Union.

“If you have an older person in your family, ask them to share their life with you. Once they are gone, those stories disappear.”