Two stories, two families, one unimaginable atrocity

Two families and two very different stories of the Holocaust. One family openly shared their experience, and another family's secret stayed hidden for 50 years. On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Noemie Lopian and Derek Niemann spoke to students, educators and community members Wednesday afternoon as part of a program in partnership with Heidelberg University and the Together We Remember Coalition called "Speaking Across the Divide: Growing Up in the Shadow of the Holocaust." Lopian is the daughter of Dr. Ernst Israel Bornstein and Renee Bornstein, both survivors of the Holocaust. Niemann is a British author who wrote "A Nazi in the Family: The Hidden Story of an SS Family in Wartime Germany." In his book, Niemann uncovers the family secret that his grandfather had been an SS officer — which Niemann did not discover until he was 50 years old. Lopian grew up in Munich, Germany, also initially unaware that her parents had survived the Holocaust. Lopian said she was taught to not bring attention to herself as a person of the Jewish faith. Lopian spoke of never coming forward while in school. She did not find out about the Holocaust until attending an ethics lesson.Lopian said she immediately forgot everything because of the shock. At 12 years old her father died, so she turned to her mother for the truth.At the age of 17, Lopian's father lived in Poland in 1939 when Germany invaded. He was able to hide until the age of 19, when, in March 1941, he was caught and sent to a labor camp. From there he was moved to seven concentration camps until he was liberated on April 30, 1945 by the Americans. He went on to marry Lopian's mother Renee in 1964 and trained and became a dentist.Lopian's mother was 10-years old when she was captured and imprisoned, and interrogated at gunpoint. After six months and a failed escape, Renee was finally reunited with her family.Lopian said in 1928, Adolf Hitler had a 2% approval. In 1932 he had 37% approval and in 1933 he rose to power."Never underestimate a fringe, political power," Lopian said. "We are all part of one race, the human race."Lopian worked to translate her father's memoirs into "The Long Night." She is also an educator and founder of Holocaust Matters — an educational tool further people on the Holocaust.Nieman said he found out the truth about his family by chance when researching his family's ancestry."My grandfather's story is that of an ordinary man who went on to do extraordinary, evil things," Niemann said.Niemann said his father had told of his grandfather working at a bank and called him "a pencil-pusher," but was part of the Nazi Party. Visiting concentration camps like the one at Dachau was part of his job.His grandfather served in World War I like many and went on to have a family. While serving, Niemann said his grandfather would take photos — photos that never showed any political affiliation.Then, in 1930 Neimann's grandfather joined the Nazi party. He would go door-to-door asking those that answered their political views and, if they spoke of different views from Hitler's, he would report them to the secret police. This resulted in people being taken to concentration camps.Niemann's grandfather would then become an SS officer, the corps of the Nazi Party."My grandfather believed he was supporting his country," Niemann said. "He believed he was doing the right thing and he sheltered behind that."Niemann said his father lived a double life."There was the scene of a happy family, while in the other, Noemie's father was captured and people were bombed and killed," he said.Later, Niemann said his father, who suffered from dementia, shared a memory. Nieman's grandfather said they would have to relocate to the Alps. During this trip, the family stayed in a barracks at the Dachau concentration camp.According to Niemann, his grandfather and grandmother looked out a window overlooking a building with smoke rising from a chimney. In a conversation, his grandmother spoke of what took place in that building."She said, 'You know what they're doing there?'," Niemann said. His grandfather answered, "No.""They're burning the Jews," Niemann's grandmother said. "They're killing them, and then burning the bodies."Niemann's grandfather responded "No, they wouldn't do that," and his grandmother answered back, "Yes, they would. Can't you smell the flesh?"While researching his family's background, Niemann asked whether his grandfather had not really known what was going on. Those who Niemann's grandfather worked with said it would have been impossible for him not to know.Niemann said he did not think his grandfather was an evil man."Not all were evil people," he said. "They were ordinary people persuaded into doing what they thought was right. The lesson for me is that if it could happen to them, it could happen to anyone to do the kinds of things my grandfather did.""We have to educate people on difference," Lopian said. "If you do not like difference, you do not have to hurt difference. You do not have to murder difference. Having a dialog is important."It takes courage to not be a bystander and to speak up and speak out."