Saturday, we reflect and remember the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
For the first time, the Claims Conference has compiled a database of living Jewish Holocaust survivors around the world. According to the Claim’s Conference, there are 245,000 living Holocaust survivors worldwide— 16% of which live in the United States.
There are almost 100 survivors still living in North Carolina.
Alexander ‘Lex’ Silbiger is a college professor in the Triangle. While he is in his late 80s, he still holds onto harrowing moments from his childhood from the Holocaust.
“I remember the German troops marching through our streets right in our neighborhood.,” said Silbiger. “So that was the beginning.”
Born in 1935, in the Netherlands, he was around five years old during the German invasion and occupation. Silbiger shared moments of fear of being in a basement shelter to stay safe from air raids. His father was resourceful. He converted some of their money into diamonds and hid them in a pipe, so they would have money to fund their escape.