Memories of Evil: A World War II Childhood

Join us for a presentation and book signing by author Peter Kubicek. This program is part of the Great Stories Author Series, sponsored by CRST International and Dr. Margaret Haupt.

In his memoir, Memories of Evil: A World War II Childhood, Peter recounts his peaceful childhood in Czechoslovakia, how his life was radically changed by the Holocaust, and his experience surviving six German concentration camps as an adolescent.

From the author:
I was born in 1930 in a town called Trencin, in what was then Czechoslovakia. It is now called Slovakia. I was the only child of a well-to-do Jewish couple. My father was the owner of a store in a prime location of the town’s principal square. We lived in a large, comfortable apartment above the store. I grew up bi-lingual — fluent in German, in addition to Slovak. I attended a local Jewish elementary school where, at the age of six, I also started studying Hebrew. Additionally, from the age of eight I received private lessons in English.

This peaceful existence was shattered in 1939 when Hitler’s Germany annexed the Czech part of the country, with Slovakia becoming a quasi-independent country governed by a local fascist party, firmly allied to Nazi Germany. A series of anti-Jewish laws was promulgated, ultimately stripping us of our property and all civil rights. In 1942, the Slovak government started deporting the Jewish population to concentration camps in “the east,” as the euphemism had it.  My family was caught and deported in October, 1944.

I describe this desperate period in my book: how I was separated from my family and how I survived a succession of six German concentration camps. If you want to come a little closer to understanding the Holocaust, read my modest book. It is far from the whole truth, which is beyond human understanding. But it is nothing but the truth, based on fragments of my memory, supplemented by historical research.

Peter Kubicek’s book is available in the Museum Store, which will be open before and after his presentation.

[button size=’medium’ border=” border_color=” shadow=” color=” background_color=’#b22731′ font_size=’1.5em’ line_height=” font_style=’normal’ font_weight=’500′ text=’RSVP Now’ link=’http://weblink.donorperfect.com/greatstorieskubicek’ target=’_blank’]