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Hear the audio of ECM’s inhterview with Bob Gans on KNSJ.
View the slideshow, The Life Saving Kindness and Courage of Strangers, the story of Greta and Ruby.
By Miriam Raftery
April 14, 2023 (San Diego) -- In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 16, ECM interviewed Bob Gans,the son of Holocaust survivors. He has created an educational project titled, “The Life Saving Kindness and Courage of Strangers, the story of Greta and Ruby.”
The 55-minute slide show that he presents to local groups relates the story of how his parents survived the Holocaust and it’s relevance today. He believes the most important aspect is “the lessons that can be learned” and applied today, encouraging people to speak out if they see wrongdoing and to offer help to those in need.
Surveys have shown that the younger generation is largely uneducated about the Holocaust, he says, adding that he will offer his presentation free to any organization that requests it.
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His family were thrown into concentration camps because they were Jewish. He describes them as “awful, terrible” places. They were kicked out of their homes when the Nazis seized homes and businesses of Jews across German and Austria. But other groups were also targeted, terrorized, tortured and killed including gypsies, homosexuals and political enemies of the Nazis.
“Their worst fears were coming through. They were heading to Dachau” concentration camp, he said of his father and uncles. His mother went to England and became a maid. “My father, through the courage and kindness of strangers, got out,” he says.
His parents were fortunate to escape execution that later happened to millions inside the concentration camps. Eventually were able to marry and start new lives in America. His father got a job with the Bulova Watch Factory, and Gan read an excerpt from his father’s letter to the owner of Bulova thanking him for giving him an opportunity.
His mother was at victory celebrations in both London and New York. Both of his parents are gone now, so Gan is taking on the responsibility of making sure that future generations will never forget the horrors of the Holocaust – and the opportunities for each of us to help our fellow men, women and children.
Today, Gans devotes his time to helping other refugees build better lives in America, through the Welcome Home San Diego program.
If you would like to have Gans’ presentation for an organization, you can contact him at bobgans7@gmail.com.
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