Photo By Staff Sgt. Wren Fiontar | Carla Peperzak, a survivor and Dutch resistance member during the occupation of...... read more read more
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Carla Peperzak, a survivor and Dutch resistance operative during the Nazi occupation of Holland, visited Fairchild to speak at the Holocaust Remembrance event held at the Red Morgan Center Apr. 24, here.
Peperzak did not speak of her experiences during the war for 50 years afterwards, a taboo subject for her family, until her granddaughter Megan urged her to speak about it at her school in 1992.
“It was too difficult for a long time after the war to talk about it and the kids knew not to bring it up,” Peperzak said. “Even now I can't watch any movies about it; the memories come flooding back, as I lost 18 of my relatives and many of my friends to the Nazis and their camps.”
She continued to speak about the war despite the difficult memories; making it a personal mission to educate people on the importance of remembering how the Holocaust happened and the price of standing by and not resisting violence.
“It's terribly important that people realize and remember what happened, because we don't want it to happen again,” Peperzak said. “It can be so difficult to grasp what happened and how bad it was, so it's easy to not think about it, but we should always keep it in mind.”
Base leadership expressed how honored they were to have Peperzak speak to those assembled for the event.
“It's an amazing story she is sharing today,” said Col. Ryan Samuelson, 92nd Air Refueling Wing commander. “We’re honored that she has taken the time to tell her story and help us clearly remember the tragedies that happened at the hands of Nazi Germany.”
Many in the crowd were moved by the personal accounting of Peperzak’s experiences during the war and the extreme lengths she and others like her went through to save as many lives as possible.
“I never knew about some of the things that Carla shared,” said Master Sgt. Barbie Rosario, 92nd Communication Squadron superintendent. “They won’t find these details taught in school or in textbooks, so it was a very good experience for us to hear her story.”
The event concluded with a candle lighting ceremony and a moment of silence to remember the lives lost to the Nazi concentration and death camps during World War II.
Peperzak parted with the hope that people will remember and learn from history and not repeat the mistakes of the past.
“I tell people, especially young people, that I hope they can respect their fellow human beings,” Peperzak said. “For me, respect is so important. If you respect someone, even if you don't like or agree with them, this can't happen again. If everyone is respectful of each other, then they won't kill one another.”
| Date Taken: | 04.25.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.15.2017 14:42 |
| Story ID: | 259111 |
| Location: | FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 119 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, WWII Survivor shares her story, by SSgt Wren Fiontar, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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