Ernest Fruehauf, Holocaust survivor, came to speak to Mr. Tom Clark’s, Social Studies, class about his experiences in Germany during the time. Deni Grgic (11) found Fruehauf on the school website while checking his grades.

“We just finished talking about World War II. Mr. Clark thought it would be cool to have a speaker, and I thought it would be cool to have a Holocaust survivor,” Grgic said.

Fruehauf was born in Bavaria on March 24, 1929. This was four years before Hitler became chancellor in Germany. Fruehauf’s family owned a confectionary shop in a small town of 14,000. The cafe was destroyed by the Nazis in 1938.

After being sent to the Dachau Concentration Camp, Fruehauf’s father knew that staying in Germany would put their lives on the line. By Aug. of 1941, his family was fortunate enough to travel to America with only a suitcase in hand. Yet Fruehauf holds no resentment toward his unpleasant memories.

“[Fruehauf] had no hate towards the Nazis. He was pretty calm about it, and he felt like the only reason that they did what they did was because they were driven by hate, and he said that [hate] causes us to do irrational things,” Grgic said