Speaker tells story of Holocaust hero

Joerg Fibelkorn, a retired German army officer, told the story of Major Plaggea Nazi who saved Jews in the Holocaust, to students in a lecture Nov. 9.

The lecture was sponsored by two of the six Jewish organizations on campus, KOACH and Kesher. KOACH is the conservative Jewish branch of Hillel and Kesher is the university's hub of Reform Judaism.

Fibelkorn said he has been in search of information about Major Plagge since 2001, working closely with Michael Good, a son of two Holocaust survivors. Fibelkorn has had access to secret and protected German archives containing details of the Holocaust unavailable to the public, he said, leaving him with an unusual, yet touching story about a Nazi who never wanted to kill anyone.

"Even if you want to do your very best, you may get yourself into a situation where no matter what you do is wrong," Fibelkorn said.

He said one of the main sources in his search for information about Plagge comes from a book written by Good, called "The Search for Major Plagge: the Nazi Who Saved the Jews." The book includes Good's parents' survival story in relation to efforts by Plagge to avoid murderous intent in his own concentration camps, he said.

"This is not written to again and again look at the past," Fibelkorn said. "It is written to know more about the past and how people acted and reacted to be able to assess things which happen right now, here and now."

Plagge saved more than 250 Jews and their families, a contrast to the Nazi murderers the public more commonly hears about, Fibelkorn said. Plagge treated people better in his concentration camp than most Nazi leaders, he said.

Fibelkorn said he is visiting cities in the United States to remind the public about the horrors of the Holocaust and inform people about heroes like Plagge who made extensive efforts to save Jews.

Senior Rebecca Marcus, vice president of KOACH and event organizer, said she hopes to promote awareness about Holocaust survivors.

"There's more to the Holocaust than we always hear about or read about in the textbooks, and there are Nazis who did save Jews," Marcus said. "Everyone needs to know about what happened and that there are good people out there."

She said the turnout was much larger than expected.

Freshman Andrea Bromberg said she came to hear Fibelkorn to learn about the heroic stories of the Holocaust that are usually left unsaid.

"I'm always intrigued to hear about those who helped the Jews during the Holocaust, especially those in the Nazi party," Bromberg said.

Senior Jackie Denbow, also in attendance, said she thinks it is important to promote awareness about heroes of the Holocaust to both Jewish and non-Jewish students at the university.

"It's nice to hear a story about someone who was a hero rather than a murderer Nazi in the Holocaust," Denbow said. "Most people don't know people like this exist, so speakers like Fibelkorn are beneficial to our school. I'm glad he came."