HILLSBORO, Ore. — Friends and family gathered today at the Neveh Shalom Synagogue to celebrate the life of the Holocaust survivor
Alter Wiener,92, was crossing the street when he was hit by a car and died Tuesday evening in Hillsboro.
His sons remember him as a man living out the nightmare of being a teenage prisoner for almost 3 years in Nazi camps during World War II.
"It’s called PTSD, but as a 13 year it's much worse, it’s called survivor guilt," Ron Wiener said.
Ron remembers how his dad would tell everyone that came over about his history.
"What was different about dad, was you could not get into the household without getting a narrative about what happened in World War II and to his family."
In 2000, Alter moved to Oregon. It was then that he was approached about publicly speaking about his life. He started speaking at schools, libraries and churches. When he spoke, people listened.
"You could hear a pin drop with all those students sitting on the bleachers." His friend, Ken Buckles traveled with him to many speeches. "I’ve heard his speech 23 times, every time I cried."
He would go on to give more than a thousand speeches.
In 2007 he wrote the book, 64735: From a Name to a Number.
"If everyone read his book there would be peace on earth," Buckles said.
One of the many students that heard his speech was Lake Oswego Freshman Claire Sarnowski.
"I met him when I was 9, 5 years ago and during his presentation, I wondered how such a wonderful man could endure the things he did," Sarnowski continued fighting back tears. "He inspired me for the future and gave me hope for my generation.
The two became friends, even working together to get a bill passed that would require genocide curriculum in all Oregon schools. A curriculum that would teach today and future generations about the atrocities that happened to Wiener and the millions like him.
"It was something near and dear to my heart, and I know it was something that was close to Alter's and I wanted to make his dream come true," Sarnowski said.
Alter Wiener leaves behind 2 sons, 6 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.