Ernest “Ernie” Brod, Holocaust survivor and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) volunteer, will be the Black River Technical College Foundation's (BRTCF) 22nd Annual Holocaust Survivor Series guest speaker.
According to the USHMM website, Ernest “Ernie” Brod was born Ernst Brod on April 7, 1938 in Vienna, Austria to Pesie Koppelmann Brod (who went by Pepi) and Israel Brod. He had an older brother, Manfred.
In March 1938, just a few weeks before Ernie was born, Nazi Germany annexed the neighboring country of Austria. Once in control, the Nazis quickly applied German anti-Jewish legislation to Vienna and the rest of Germany’s newly-acquired territory. The intent was to exclude Jews from economic, cultural, and social life. Many Jewish-owned factories and thousands of businesses were closed or confiscated by the government.
After gathering all of the necessary paperwork, including an affidavit of support, the American consulate granted Pepi and Ernie permission to immigrate to the United States. The two of them left Vienna in February 1941 and made their way to Portugal via France and Spain, where they boarded the Serpa Pinto, a Portuguese ship. They arrived in New York in March, just a few weeks before Ernie’s third birthday, which they were able to celebrate with family who had moved there years earlier. They settled in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.
Ernie received his undergraduate and law degrees from Columbia University. He worked in corporate investigations before launching his own corporate intelligence firm. He married twice and has three children, three stepchildren, and many grandchildren. He is now a volunteer at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Ernie will be giving a virtual, first-hand account of his Holocaust experiences. He will be speaking via broadcast from Washington D.C. on Wednesday, October 28 at 9:30 a.m. and on Thursday, October 29 at 5:30 p.m. The sessions will be held at the Randolph County Development Center on the Black River Technical College Pocahontas campus. Interested participants may also register for the virtual event to receive a code to login from anywhere off campus.
To register for the BRTC Foundation's Holocaust Survivor Series event use the link below https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZXHLZ73.
For more information, contact Shawna Lepard, Development Specialist for Institutional Advancement, at (870) 248-4026 or
