PINE RIVER — Historian and re-enactor Arn Kind will present a historical experience, “Liberators & The Holocaust," from 6-8 p.m. Monday, May 8, at the Pine River American Legion.
Other area presentations hosted by the Kitchigami Regional Library will be at noon Monday, May 8, at the Wadena VFW; noon Tuesday, May 9, at the Walker American Legion; noon Wednesday, May 10, at the Brainerd Public Library; and noon Thursday, May 11, at Salem Lutheran Church in Longville.
Through first-person narratives, participants will experience what American soldiers, including Minnesotans, witnessed as they came upon and liberated the prisoners in the Nazi concentration camps in the waning days of World War II.
As these GIs moved east across war-torn Europe, they came across Buchenwald, Dachau, Bergen-Belsen and scores of other camps. Instead of joyous scenes of liberation, allied soldiers liberated the last victims of what would come to be called the Holocaust.
The sick and emaciated inmates who were strong enough rose to their feet, hands folded, crying with a joyful disbelief that their ordeal at the hands of the Nazis was, at last, over.
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Kind will relate the tragic story of how the Holocaust was perpetrated by the Nazi Party and how a nation of cultured people with a proud heritage were persuaded to allow and even carry out the worst genocide in the history of the world.
He will also share the first-person accounts of American soldiers, including Minnesotans who came across and liberated these camps. For many, this experience changed their lives forever.
For more information, contact a local library or visit www.krls.org .
This free Legacy Program is funded in part or in whole with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008, which dedicated funding to preserve Minnesota’s arts and cultural heritage.
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