Renée Kann Silver's Story:  Ms. Silver, a Holocaust survivor, was born in Saarland in 1931. At the time, Saarland was an independent territory with France and Germany as its borders. However, in 1935, there was a plebiscite which took place, deeming Saarland part of Germany. Silver's family immediately moved to France in fear of Hitler's regime. However, the family was arrested because the French feared that any foreigners were German spies. They were then taken to a concentration camp in Gurs, France. 

Silver said the concentration camps of Gurs were unbearable for her family. There were rats, fleas, and almost everybody had lice. Silver's scratchy straw mattress was the only place where she could rest her head at night. 

After France fell to Germany in the Battle of France in June of 1940, the Germans came in and freed those in the Gurs concentration camp. The people who made up the camps were not thought to be Jewish by the Germans, but foreign spies in the eyes of the French. Even though Silver's family identified as Jewish, the Germans simply saw them as an enemy of France. 

 Silver and her family were then allowed to move to the commune of Villeurbanne which is near Lyon. Here, Silver attended school. At the end of the school year, students assembled in the yard to find out which student would be awarded a book by Henri-Philippe Pétain, the head of the fascist state, Vichy France, which collaborated with the Nazi Party. 

The student would have to demonstrate excellent scholastic achievement and sportsmanship in order to emerge victorious. Students and teachers had selected Renée Silver. 

Yet, the principal, someone whom Silver regarded as a "step below divinity," said, "Le Maréchal would not want me to, nor would I want to give the book to someone who belongs to a race that has caused our beloved country so much trouble already. I cannot bring myself to give this to Renée." (Le Maréchal refers to Henri-Philippe Pétain in this case). 

Silver and her family continued to endure these constant anti-semitic attacks which led to Silver and her sister Edith being hidden in the vast open farmlands of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. Later, she and her sister  reunited with the rest of their family. 

Along with Silver, her mother, father and sister finally fled to neutral Switzerland. 

Since then, Silver has spoken at schools and universities throughout the country in order to educate the public about the Holocaust. Today, she resides in Garden City, NY with her two cats.