HOUSTON — Houston’s Holocaust Museum hosted a ceremony Thursday honoring International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
It's the day designated by the United Nations that highlights the 33 countries that have joined in solidary condemning antisemitism.
Those of the Jewish faith honor the day, marking the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Bill Orlin, 89, is a Holocaust survivor who resettled in Houston. He attended Thursday's ceremony at the museum.
“I've been in Houston since 1951. I came here when I was 19 years old. I’m a Holocaust survivor from Poland,” he said.
Orlin lived through one of the most horrific times in human history. He said most of his adolescence was spent on the run. He said his hometown of Brok, Poland, was invaded by German troops when was 7.
“Within days, they announced anti-Jewish laws. They burned down all Jewish homes,” Orlin said.
Orlin said that over the next 12 years of his life, he and his family bounced around from civil and military resettlement camps.
He said they experienced several close calls along the way.
“I thought that this was it, there were two soldiers with a machine gun, and we were lined up single file as if they were going to shoot us," he said of one experience.
Orlin and his family eventually resettled in Houston in 1951. He said it wasn’t long before he was thrown right back into a warzone.
Orlin was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War shortly after his move to Houston.
“Age 21 I was drafted, and I ended in Germany as a part of occupation services," he said.
Fast forward decades later and Orlin’s story of resilience holds a treasured place at Houston’s Holocaust Museum. His story is highlighted among the other Holocaust survivors in Houston.
During Thursday’s ceremony, Orlin and several others placed stones in front of HMH’s memorial site. The stones honor the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust.
Orlin said the recent attack of the Jewish synagogue outside Dallas shows there’s still work to be done.
“Education, Education, Education,” he said.