Survivor tells his story on Holocaust Remembrance Day
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE): Irving Schild, 88, is a holocaust survivor and recalls first hand why Holocaust Remembrance Day is so important.
“It’s a day where 6 million Jews were murdered in the worst possible way,” Schild said. “It’s hard to understand how human beings were able to watch these people taken to the street, beaten, attacked, and treated like an animal.”
Schild said he tells his stories for those that did not live to tell theirs.
His tale begins in Belgium, where he was born. As the war expanded into Belgium, his father decided to move their family of four to France. Schild was just 9 years old.
“As soon as we got to France we were arrested and put into a concentration camp,” Schild said.”
He still has the identification cards his family was given before being put in the camp.
“The ID card was stamped Juif in big red letters, meaning Jew,” he said.
Schild’s father managed to pay off one of the guards who snuck his family out in the middle of the night. Schild’s family was constantly on the move, hiding everywhere from a deserted military camp in Italy to churches in Rome.
“There’s no way with what we went through that we should have survived,” Schild said. “My life is is a miracle.”
Schild’s family made their way to America in 1944. They were selected through a program created by President Roosevelt.
He joined the U.S. Marines after WW2 and trained as a combat photographer. Schild then turned those skills into a career.
His photography has appeared in major publications, including Mad magazine where he worked for more than 5 decades.
Schild lives in Providence now with his wife.
“This should never be forgotten and what’s sad is it’s coming back again. The hate is there.”
©WLNE-TV/ABC6 2020
