Bradley University hosts Holocaust survivor

On Sept. 20, Bradley University hosted Holocaust survivor Magda Brown, who spoke about her experience as well as shared stories and ideas on actions that can be taken to avoid another genocide.

Brown’s presentation took place in the Peplow Pavilion at the Hayden-Clark Alumni Center.

Born in Miskolc, Hungary, in 1927 to a Jewish-Hungarian family, Brown was transported to the concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland, with her family when she was just 17 years old.

After that, Brown spent several months at the camp before she hid in a barn to avoid a death march. She was discovered and saved by American soldiers two days later. Eventually, she would witness the end of the war.

Brown moved to the U.S. in September of 1946 and later returned to Hungary with the help of the U.S. government to search for survivors in her family. She found that only six out of an extended family of 70 had survived.

She spends her days meeting and speaking with students at the Holocaust Museum in Skokie, Illinois. Aurora University has since bestowed Brown with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.