2023 Holocaust Remembrance Event

Photo By Senior Airman Alexis Pentzer | Elizabeth Igra, retired veteran educator, gives a speech at the Recce Point Club on Beale Air Force Base, California on April 18, 2023. Igra shared stories of how she and her mother escaped Nazi persecution many times and how they both survived through the war. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Alexis Pentzer)  

BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, CA, UNITED STATES

04.18.2023

Story by Airman 1st Class Alexis Pentzer 

9th Reconnaissance Wing

Elizabeth Igra came to Beale AFB to share her personal experience of the Holocaust as a young child and her journey to recover the truth of what happened to her missing family members during that time. Igra started out by explaining how the Holocaust began and how it was facilitated. She went on to explain that the Holocaust is the most well documented genocide in history and that the Nazis kept meticulous records of the Holocaust as it was happening.

She explained how she and her mother were living in a ghetto in Poland and escaped the persecution of Nazi soldiers. Igra and her mother walked from Poland to Czechoslovakia to Hungary, where they hid until the end of the war. Igra shared how she discovered that her father was killed at a concentration camp, while her uncle survived the camps.

Igra spent 35 years teaching every grade level from preschool to graduate school. She has shared her story with students and teachers to encourage understanding of the Holocaust and spread awareness. She helped create Sacramento’s Shalom School and founded the nonprofit Central Valley Holocaust Educator’s Network. These resources were created to support teachers addressing this topic in schools and to support continuous learning within the community.

• Date Taken: 04.18.2023
• Date Posted: 04.21.2023 12:22
• Story ID: 443100
• Location: BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, CA, US