Fairfield University's Bennett Center for Judaic Studies presents Holocaust Remembrance Service | Press Releases

Miriam Merzbacher-Blumenthal, a survivor of the Holocaust who now lives in Greenwich, Conn., will be the speaker for the Holocaust Remembrance Service at Fairfield University's Egan Chapel of St. Ignatius Loyola on Tuesday, April 21 at 4:30 p.m. The service, free and open to the public, is presented by Fairfield University's Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies.

Born in Berlin, Merzbacher-Blumenthal was 13 years old in 1940 when her family was imprisoned for simply being Jewish. They were sent to different concentration camps and suffered different fates. Merzbacher-Blumenthal survived Westerbork, in Holland, where she spent one-and-a-half years, and was liberated in Teresienstadt on May 8, 1945. Throughout that time, she was with her mother and grandmother. Her father died at Auschwitz in October of 1944, and her brother died in Mauthausen in 1941. Miriam and her mother left Europe for the United States in 1947 and moved to Queens, N.Y. She worked as a governess and as a Girl Friday, among many other jobs. She started writing during the 1940s, taking great solace and release in it.

At the Holocaust Remembrance Service, Merzbacher-Blumenthal, an accomplished and published poet, will read her poem, "May the Lord Bless You and Keep You," and some of her other poetry and non-fiction writing. A resident of Greenwich for the past 27 years, she said, "To this day, it is very painful to talk about my experience. It is not an easy thing to do. There are deep wounds that don't heal."

The event is co-sponsored by Campus Ministry and KADIMA, Fairfield University's undergraduate Jewish student organization. Seating is limited. Call the Bennett Center at (203) 254-4000, ext. 2066 to reserve a seat.