Holocaust Survivor, Paul Kester, Speaks at Geffen Academy

Paul Kester was born in Wiesbaden, Germany in 1925. He was just seven years old when Hitler came to power, and one of only two Jewish boys in his class, he and his friend, Leo. As the Nazi ideology swept the country, an angry mob smashed the windows of all the Jewish businesses in his town, including his family’s, on the night known as Kristallnacht. The GESTAPO then arrested all of the Jewish men. With his father arrested, Paul, along with his mother, swept up their shattered family business. He could not sleep at night because "the noise of broken glass was in his ears." His father returned for a brief time and the family desperately looked for countries that would take them or, at least, their children. Paul’s 14-year-old sister was sent away to another country, and soon after, his friend, Leo, left with his family for relatives in Amsterdam. 

With the help of a distant relative in Sweden, Paul considers himself lucky to have been one of the 15,000 Jewish children to have been granted a spot in the Kindertransport refugee program. He made it to Sweden, where his life was spared, and his education continued. One of the most powerful things Paul spoke of was the importance of education. When Hitler rose to power, the right to attend school was taken from him, and he was deeply affected by this.

 

While at a school in Sweden, Paul exchanged weekly letters with his parents until one day, the letters stopped. He learned that his parents and his grandmother were sent to Theresienstadt, where his grandmother died from illness and starvation. His parents later died at Auschwitz. Paul also learned that his best friend Leo was one of the 1,500,000 Jewish children killed in the Holocaust.

 

Paul met his wife at the Jewish boarding school he attended in Sweden, and they moved to Los Angeles. Having had his right to education once taken from him, Paul has spent a lifetime pursuing educational opportunities, including accounting courses at UCLA.

 

Paul’s words left a resounding impact on our community which was engaged and respectful for the duration of the talk. Only a small handful of Holocaust survivors remain. The students and Educators at Geffen Academy were grateful and honored to bear witness to Mr. Kester's living testimony. Mr. Kester ended his talk with a memory. Once, while speaking to a group of students in Germany in the 1980s, a German student asked him if they should feel guilty for the atrocities of the Holocaust committed by their ancestors. Mr. Kester responded, "You are not guilty for the lives of your parents or grandparents, but you have a responsibility to know the history of your country.”

On the heels of another shooting of an unarmed young black man, Ralph Yarl, and in the wake of sweeping anti-LGBTQ legislation, Mr. Kester’s words of tolerance and love underscore the urgency of this message. He added that he felt an obligation to share what happens when a government pursues an ideology that defies humanity. “You must fight anti-semitism, fight racism, fight xenophobia...don't hate. Don’t hate. Human life has to be respected in all its forms."