The Last Holocaust Survivors

 

Ken and Robert

Robert Clary died this week at age 96.  He was one of the last few remaining holocaust survivors.  These people have been living testimony to how horribly we humans can treat each other.  He and his family were in their apartment in Paris one day and the next they were in a cattle car on their way to hell. 

Robert Clary was a young teenager when he and his parents and 10 siblings were sent to the death camps.  All of them, except Robert, died in the camps.  I heard him speak a few times.  He believed the reason he was spared was because he was an entertainer.  Small for his age, he sang and danced for the Nazis.  He was liberated from the Buchenwald death camp by American troops.

He was best known for his role in Hogan's Heroes but. along with acting, he was a singer, dancer, writer and painter.  He married Natalie Cantor, daughter of Eddie Cantor. 

Like many holocaust survivors he didn't go public about his horrific experience until around 1980 when holocaust deniers began to flourish.  

I met him in the 1980s in West Palm Beach when he spoke at an event organized by my husband Ken, bringing Jews and Christians together to remember this evil event in human history - to never forget.  He was a charming, calm, kind man.

Thank you, Robert Clary, for never letting me forget. 

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