SJC to Hold Women’s Appreciation Event

February 09, 2014

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. February 10, 2014 St. Josephs College (SJC) will host the event, "A Story of Survival & Strength by Holocaust survivor Esther Bauer on Thursday, February 27 at 12:40 p.m. in the McGann Conference Center at its Long Island Campus in Patchogue, N.Y.

"In celebration of Womens History Month, Esther Bauer will recount her harrowing experiences as a Holocaust survivor, said Christy Banks, director of multicultural student life at SJC. "Her bounding energy and joy for life is infectious, and will leave us filled with respect and appreciation for the indestructibility of the human spirit.

Esther Bauer was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1924 and was only nine years old when Hitler came into power. Her father, Dr. Alberto Jones was the principal of The Jewish Girls School and her mother, Dr. Marie Anna Jones was a medical doctor, forbidden to practice by the Reich Citizen Law. Bauer and her parents were deported to Theresienstadt, a poverty stricken area in Czechoslovakia where they all became prisoners. Six weeks later, her father passed away from meningitis. Two years later, Bauer married a friend of hers and the two, along with many others, were sent to Auschwitz where her husband was murdered. On October 10, 1944, her mother was also deported to Auschwitz where she was also murdered. Esther survived and was filled with joy upon being freed. She decided from then on to "live each day, have fun and be a human being. She recounts her experience as a prisoner to students as often as possible so people will "learn what happened and see to it that it never happens again.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 631.687.1242 or visit www.sjny.edu. St. Josephs College is accessible via the South Service Road of Sunrise Highway, just east of Exit 52 (Waverly Avenue).