On Monday evening, March 9 at 7:00 PM, residents of Reading and surrounding communities will have a rare and increasingly urgent opportunity to hear directly from a living Holocaust survivor. Chabad of Wakefield will host Tibor Spitz at the William Endslow Auditorium at Reading Memorial High School for an evening of testimony, reflection, and remembrance.
Spitz was a young child in Slovakia when the Nazi occupation upended his life. Anti-Jewish decrees forced him out of school and stripped his family of their property and security. As mass deportations to Auschwitz intensified, his family fled into hiding in the Slovak mountains, where they endured freezing conditions and constant danger while German forces searched the region for Jews in concealment.
Most of his extended family was murdered during the Holocaust. Through resilience, courage, and circumstance, Spitz survived.
In the decades that followed, he rebuilt his life with extraordinary determination. He earned a PhD and became a scientist and inventor, contributing to technological advances that helped shape the modern digital world. Alongside his scientific work, he also became an accomplished artist, using his paintings to express memory, loss, and survival.
Now 96 and living in upstate New York, Spitz continues to travel and speak to communities, schools, and institutions, sharing firsthand testimony at a time when Holocaust survivors are becoming fewer each year.
Rabbi Sruly Brook of Chabad of Wakefield says the moment carries particular urgency.
Hearing history directly from someone who lived through it is something entirely different,” Brook said. “When survivors share their stories, history stops being distant and becomes deeply personal. Opportunities like this are becoming rarer with each passing year.”
The program is open to the public, but seating is limited and advance registration is strongly encouraged. Tickets are $20, with $10 tickets available for students. A limited number of VIP reception tickets are also available for those who wish to meet Spitz prior to the program.
Community members of all backgrounds are encouraged to attend and take part in this important evening of remembrance and reflection.
Tickets can be reserved at JewishWakefield.com/Tickets or by calling 781-205-9593.
