Holocaust Awareness Week: Monday's Schedule
Monday, March 8, 2010
University of Colorado at Boulder
University Memorial Center Room 235
Boulder, CO 80301
Campus Map
Free and open to the public
Monday, March 8, 2010
11:00AM
Sid Shafner
Concentration camp liberator
Sid Shafner Concentration camp liberator Sid Shafner was born September 14, 1921, in Philadelphia. He attended Temple University for one year in 1942, but left to enlist in the U.S. Army, entering active duty April 1943. While in basic training Shafner was chosen along with 20,000 enlistless to study engineering. The army had in mind to rebuild Europe at the conclusion of World War II so they sent him to Regis University in Denver. While in Denver, Shafner met his wife to whom he has been married for 63 years. In March of 1944, the Army was getting ready for the invasion of Europe. They discontinued the program because they needed as many soldiers as possible for the invasion. They transferred Shafner and all 20,000 of his peers to the 42nd Infantry Division also known as the Rainbow Division. They trained at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma until November 1944 after which they were sent to Europe. In December 1944 they landed in Marseilles, France, from where they fought our way across France and across Germany. During the fighting, they accidently discovered the Dachau concentration camp, which they freed on April 29, 1945. After recovering from the shock of Dachau, they went on into Austria. By May 8, 1945, they were sent to Vienna as Army of Occupation. Shafner was sent home in April 1946 and was married in June 1946. While still sea sick from the two week ocean voyage across the Atlantic, Shafner earned two Bronze Star Medals for two difficult situations in which he was involved. Since becoming a civilian, Shafner has been a real estate broker. He has three married children and seven grand children.
1:00 PM
Walter Plywaski
Holocaust Survivor
Walter Plywaski Holocaust Survivor Walter was born in Lodz, Poland in 1929. During the war he was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, Kaufering, and Dachau. He escaped from Dachau 2 with his brother Bill and was “captured” by the United States Army where he served as a “mascot”. Mr. Plywaski arrived in the United States in June 1947 as a stowaway, and after a six month stay at Ellis Island, became a United States citizen thanks to his services to the United States Army in Europe.
2:30 PM
Robby Adler Peckerar
CU Professor
Robby Adler Peckerar CU Professor Professor Peckerar joins CU from the University of California at Berkeley where he earned his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. He concentrated on Yiddish, Hebrew, and German literature and completed course work in Modern Standard and Levantine Arabic. He is a translator of Yiddish and Hebrew short fiction and poetry and also an avid watcher of television and film! Originally from Washington D.C., Professor Adler is looking forward to learning about Boulder with his partner Naomi and their five-year old son, Tomek.
7:00 PM
Berel Lang
Professor of philosophy and Holocaust studies
**Events require an RSVP as seating is limited due to fire code restrictions. Attending an event without an RSVP may require waiting until all those who have RSVP'd are seated or being turned away if the room has reached capacity. **