Most Popular Videos Featured On KDKA.com
Nov 9, 2009 5:41 pm US/Eastern
Local Groups Shed Light On Holocaust
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
-
-
Sam Weinreb came to live in McKeesport through a long and horrible journey through the Holocaust. He shared his story with dancers in the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, who are performing the piece called "Light" about a woman who survived Auschwitz.
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
The Holocaust is often thought of as one of the darkest times in world history.
The Nazis killed as many as six million jews as well as millions of people from other groups, including prisoners of war and homosexuals.
This month, 16 different local groups are working together to present programs on the Holocaust.
From dance to film, to paintings to opera, each art form takes a different approach at understanding such a difficult subject.
Sam Weinreb came to live in McKeesport through a long and horrible journey through the Holocaust.
"I was almost [13-years-old] when all this began for me and I was coming home one evening from a bar mitzvah lesson," Weinreb said. "I found our home locked and no one there. That afternoon was the last time I ever saw or spoke to any member of my family."
Weinreb lived on his own on the streets of Hungary for six months and was beaten by police before being tortured in the Auschwitz concentration camp for a year.
He escaped during the death march, where only 400 of about 6,000 people survived, and landed in McKeesport with his uncle.
He shared his story with dancers in the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, who are performing the piece called "Light" about a woman who survived Auschwitz.
Choreographer Stephen Mills hopes that through art, audiences better appreciate what happened to so many individual lives.
Eighth grade students at Winchester Thurston School in Shadyside are also using art to understand the Holocaust.
They're each making an art book based on one person's experience in the Holocaust. They'll be displayed in the lobby at the Byham Theatre during the ballet's performances.
More information:
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Clymer Homicide Suspect Kills Self
Click to enlarge
"Pittsburgh Lost Its Voice" With Honsberger Death 26 mins ago 
Public Memorial Planned For Honsberger 50 mins ago 
Stumble It!
