Holocaust survivor gives conversation to students in HRI.
Published by May 9, 2018 | By Sean Calderon
On April 24, a flock of students flooded into Room 207 of the Human Rights Institute in the Nancy Thompson Library here at Kean. There weren’t enough seats for everyone, so some brought in more chairs from neighboring rooms. Eventually, some had to sit down on the floor.
The room was loud and chatty, with many students conversing about their respective semesters wrapping up. Some students walked in with headphones on their heads to block out the noise completely. Soon enough, the guest of honor walked into the room very slowly.
The room fell silent.
The man, Julian Reuter, clad in casual black pants, a tucked in blue dress shirt, and a burgundy vest over it was accompanied by Dr. Dennis Klein of the History department, who got everyone to direct their attention to the front of the room. He gave a brief introduction and then introduced Reuter.
Reuter, 98, is a Holocaust survivor, and he was here at Kean to speak on his experiences as a survivor, the aftermath, and its lessons to the modern day world. Klein gave a few quick facts about Reuter before passing the stage over to him. The fact that Reuter had been in four different concentration camps–Buchenwald, Dachau, Sauchenhausen, and Auschwitz–made many of the students’ eyes widen. Reuter then started recounting his story.
“I was about 12 or 13 years old when Kristallnacht happened,” said Reuter, in reference to the day in 1938 where Nazi sympathizers broke the glass of Jewish owned businesses. “To wake up and see the destruction the following morning was only the start.”
Reuter was born and raised in Berlin to an extended family, and grew up watching Hitler rise to power. His family was of Jewish heritage and were therefore forced to wear the Star of David sewn on to their everyday clothes so that every person could tell them and other Jews apart from the rest.
Both he and his brother attempted to flee Germany in early 1939 with false papers. They were caught on the Dutch border and sent back to Berlin to the Gestapo headquarters. From there, alone and separated from his brother, Reuter’s long, painful journey of survival began.
“I was held at the Gestapo headquarters for about five to six months,” said Reuter. “I was then sent to Buchenwald for the first time.” He would return to Buchenwald in the waning weeks of the war.
Reuter was transferred to Dachau, Sachsenhausen, and then eventually to Auschwitz. In each camp, he was forced to do heavy labor and watched as many died around him. All of this was under the condition of malnourishment.
Reuter weighed 68 pounds when he and other Jews and prisoners were liberated during his second stay at Buchenwald. They were rescued by U.S General George S. Patton’s army. Reuter emigrated to the U.S shortly after, and has lived here since, only returning to Berlin a few times since.
He wrapped up his story and then began to reflect on the aftermath and the effect it had on his life.
“For many years, I was still haunted by my experiences,” said Reuter. “I eventually grew strong enough so that it doesn’t.”
Reuter and many other Holocaust survivors were given many apologies for their pain, in both verbal, symbolic, and materialistic forms. The city government of Berlin still sends him a monthly check, which he is not very fond of.
“They try to make us feel better doing things like this as if it would make up for it all,” said Reuter. “None of this replaces loved ones and friends that we’ve lost.”
Dr. Klein and other students began to ask Reuter questions after he finished his story. Of the questions, he said it is all so important for the youth today to make sure that the lessons that were taken from the Holocaust are passed on.
“To see these students here today willing to hear my experiences is a good start,” said Reuter. “It’s important we don’t lose faith in God when such atrocities occur.”