Holocaust survivor Daniel Chanoch spoke about his life during the reign of Hitler to an audience in the Soda Center on Monday, April 24. Chanoch was the youngest of three children and was born in Lithuania. His older sister and parents died in the Holocaust, while he and his brother survived. He showed the audience pictures of his family. He told his story of when he was eight through 12 years old during 1941-1945.

He said, 'No one paid attention that Hitler was dangerous,' when he was a child. He showed a secret report from the Nazi commander Karl Yeger about how the Nazis were going to annihilate the Jewish people. He said, 'It wasn´t enough to kill them, they had to keep a record.' The Germans were very precise with the numbers of Jews who were going to be killed. Chanoch described the scene when the Nazis marched through his hometown. He saw the Nazis do brutal things to the Jews and he put up a wall of isolation because of it.

He was put into a ghetto labeled as 'Kovno' in his hometown. The conditions were harder for his family and others as food rations were taken away. He collected wood for his family to make fires. Chanoch described when he hid under a roof to escape from an S.S. officer. He zigzagged while he ran. He was helped by a family who offered to shelter him.

In 1944, the Kovno ghetto was liquidated. The Russian front was coming closer and the Nazis decide to deport all people from the ghetto. Chanoch´s parents, brother and sister were still alive. The first camp he went to was Stutthof. He stayed with his father and brother, while his mother and sister went to the other line. He never saw his mother and sister again. Chanoch went to the Dachau and Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camps. He had already been separated from his brother and father.

Chanoch then went to Mauthausen, located in Austria. He called this camp, 'The corner of Hell.' He had a job of rolling a cattle wagon and clearing a ramp of dead prisoners´ possessions. 'I considered it a good job.'

Chanoch was liberated by the 71st Infantry Division of the United States Army. Chanoch saw Jewish soldiers who were among the Americans, 'Those guys collected us like their own children.' Chanoch described his adventure of trying to reach Palestine after liberation.
Taline Kuyumjian ´09 spoke about the Armenian genocide of 1915 and how it has affected her. It was the 91st anniversary of the genocide. 'We want to get this to be an annual thing and to be publicized more. It was like Hitler said, ´Who remembers the Armenians?´ in one of his speeches,' she said.
Gillian Ellis ´09 said, 'It made it seem really realistic coming from a first person source.' Anna Adams, a campus minister said, 'It is important for Catholics to improve Jewish-Christian relations.'
Other students like Ashley Lubey ´09 were moved to speak. 'He shared his story passionately and emotionally,' said Lubey.
Will McCosker ´06 said Chanoch´s speech, 'really puts things into perspective' and 'changes the meaning of everything.'
Chanoch informed the audience about his Holocaust experience. He has a great family now and was able to reconnect with his brother. His parting advice for all young people was, 'not to trust all kinds of dictators.'