Holocaust survivor and co-founder of Virginia Holocaust Museum to speak at Germanna

Holocaust survivor and Virginia Holocaust Museum cofounder Jay Ipson will speak in Sealy Auditorium at Germanna’s Fredericksburg Area Campus in Spotsylvania at 11 a.m. on Oct. 22. Admission is free and open to the public.

Holocaust survivor Jay Ipson

“Mr. Ipson survived one of the most horrific events of the 20th century” said Kellie Bradshaw, associate professor of history at Germanna.  Broad definitions say 11 million people were killed in the Nazi system.  This number includes Soviet POWs, ethnic Polish people, Romanian people and nearly 6 million Jewish people from Europe. Much of this violence and death was centered in the part of Europe where Mr. Ipson is from. “

 

 Prof. Bradshaw said new research by the United States Holocaust Museum estimates that 15-20 million died or were imprisoned in the Nazi ghetto and camp system.

“Mr. Ipson's story of survival is something I believe everyone should hear,” she said.

Ipson was co-founder of the Virginia Holocaust Museum.

He was raised in Lithuania, placed in a concentration camp at age  6 in 1941 and escaped with his parents in 1943. He arrived in Richmond with his parents in 1947, when he was 12.

Ipson has been appointed by Gov. McDonnell to his Virginia Israel Advisory Board.

He has been a board member of the Anti-Defamation League, chairman of the Automotive Engineers Virginia Section, and Chairman of the Curriculum Committee of the Virginia Vocational Center.

Germanna’s Fredericksburg Area Campus is located off U.S. 17 near Cosner’s Corner in Massaponax.

For more information, email kbradshaw@germanna.edu.