Valley's Jewish-American community continues sharing Holocaust stories

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- It's been roughly 80 years since 11 million people died during the Holocaust, including 6 million Jews, and to this day, survivors are sharing their stories.

Hannah Krebs was two and a half years old when her parents found a way out of Germany.

"My mother, father and I knew we had to get out, so we left and went to Manchester, England, for eight months before we had papers that came through to allow us to come to New York and live there, so that is what we did," she said. "We came on Jan 3, 1940."

For years, she's held on to pictures with important dates and descriptions detailing her parents' journey.

Jack Benninga comes from a huge family in the Netherlands.

His parents left in 1940 but for twp years, traveled to multiple countries from England to Australia to what's now Indonesia, seeking refuge.

He says the family members who stayed behind were killed.

"We lost 128 members of cousins and close family members of my parents, all of whom were exterminated in the concentration camps," he said.

Benninga learned about that tragic family history when his father wrote a detailed book in the 1970's.

Hilary Levine, co-founder of 'Avenues for Change: Holocaust and Genocide Education' says their mission is to ensure the atrocities from that time are never forgotten.

In early May, the non-profit helped get the museum exhibit from London that Levine says tells a more hopeful story.

It was showcased at Temple Beth Israel in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

"There were about 4,000 men that were in this Kitchner Camp," Levine said. "They were former barracks used in 1917 for the first World War, probably should have been destroyed but were not. They ended up using them as a refugee camp for Jewish men to come."

Many of the men immigrated to different parts of the world or stayed in London.

Levine says it's important to keep sharing all stories tied to the Holocaust.

"The more we educate, the more people are interested and we have these important conversations that are really important to have," Levine said.

Important truths she says can be hard to hear but are still critical for future generations to know.

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