Survivor Yolanda Avram Willis will talk about her Holocaust ordeal April 6, at Penn State New Kensington's "Holocaust, In Remembrance" program. Photo by post-gazette.com and courtesy of Bing Images.
First-hand account of atrocities
"Holocaust, In Remembrance"
Noon, Wednesday, April 6, Conference Center
“I was one of the lucky ones. I was a hidden child, like the famous hidden child Anne Frank. I was not hidden in an attic or a bunker. I was hidden in plain sight passing as a Christian.”—Yolanda Avram Willis
UPPER BURRELL, Pa. -- Survivor Yolanda Avram Willis of Pittsburgh gives a first-hand account of the atrocities of the Holocaust at noon, Wednesday, April 6, in the Penn State New Kensington Conference Center. Avram Willis is the guest speaker of annual campus program, "Holocaust, in Remembrance." The program is free to the public.
Born in 1934 in Salonika, Greece, Avram Willis was a hidden child during the Holocaust. When the Germans occupied Greece in 1940, she was spirited to the Greek island of Crete and taken in by a Christian family, who put their lives in jeopardy by providing succor to Jews. Given the name Julia and posing as a Christian girl, Avram Willis remained hidden but out in the open for three and a half years until Athens was liberated by the American, British, and French forces.
After the war, Avram Willis attended the American College in Athens, and then came to the United States to study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She earned a master’s degree in chemistry and a doctorate in sociology. Her 22-year professional career included positions as manager, educator and consultant. She taught at Carnegie Mellon University.
Avram Willis wrote a book, “A Hidden Child in Greece: Rescue Stories of the Holocaust,” that will be published in the summer by Author House Publishing Company. According to the author, the book is a “thank you” to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who saved her and others. Parts of the book were first published in “Flares of Memory,” the anthology of memoirs composed by survivors in the Pittsburgh area.
The 81-year-old author has three children, two stepchildren and four granddaughters. One granddaughter is named Julia, the name Yolanda used in hiding.
Remembrance program
Lois Rubin, associate professor of English who retired last year, arranges for guest speakers in an effort to educate students about the atrocities of the Holocaust.
Since 1992, Rubin has brought 22 Holocaust survivors to the New Kensington campus to speak in April, the month of Holocaust Remembrance Day. According to the Pittsburgh native, the recollections by speakers such as Avram Willis remind the world of the lesson of respecting the humanity of those who are different.
"I continue to do the program because I think we still need to be mindful of the terrible consequences of hatred and prejudice," said Rubin, who taught at the campus for 30 years. "Time is passing, and members of the World War II generation are aging. In a few years, the survivors of the Holocaust will not be around to tell us their stories in person."
Co-sponsored by Rubin and the Office of Student Affairs, the event usually has a large turnout. Seating is limited and group reservations are recommended.
For information or to make a group reservation, call 724-334-6062.
News Contact: Bill Woodard
Alumni and Public Relations
724-334-6049, uxw1@psu.edu