WHITEHALL - Cindy Busarow is the daughter of Holocaust survivors.
As part of the Whitehall Community Library’s Holocaust project, Busarow presented pictures she had never seen before and letters that she painstakingly translated to reveal the realities of what happened in the concentration camps.
"Seeing the pictures and the correspondence. It was just wow—how brave and courageous they were and what an awful time that was," said Busarow.
She spoke about her father, John, who was a member of the special military unit—the Richie Boys—and how he helped take down Nazi Germany.
"They said that it was the intelligence of the Richie Boys that was very much a large part of how we won the war," said Busarow.
The Ritchie Boys were a highly trained U.S. military unit of German immigrants who wanted to get back at the Nazis.
The Ritchie Boys were named after Camp Ritchie in Maryland where they trained. The unit was comprised of German-speaking immigrants, mainly made up of Jews who fled Nazi occupation. Busarow’s father, John, was trained in counterintelligence, interrogation and psychological warfare.
When sent to Europe, John and a fellow soldier infiltrated an S.S. headquarters and fed information to allied forces.
Busarow says that it’s important to talk about the Holocaust so history doesn’t repeat itself.
"People are afraid to talk about it. It’s like this taboo subject and you have to talk about it 'cuz I know—for me, I didn’t talk about it either. My dad didn’t talk about it very much. Certain aspects he did, but certain aspects they didn’t," said Busarow.
On April 28, The Whitehall Community Library will be hosting a Survivor Fair where students will present stories of survivors and rescuers to the public.
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