Jay Ipson at University of Virginia
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) –
A Holocaust survivor is urging people in Charlottesville to help him prevent history from repeating itself, especially with a rise in anti-Semitic activity across the country. Jay Ipson and his mother were the only people out of 5,000 to survive in the Kovno ghetto during the Holocaust.Ipson says he sees a lot of similarities to Nazi Germany in today’s society. He visited community members at the University of Virginia Sunday to share his story and chat with students about religious problems currently facing the U.S. Ipson says more than 170 bomb threats have been made to Jewish community centers across the country since January. He hopes younger generations inherit religious tolerance and can prevent intolerance from spreading. „The future is with the young people. They as they grow up will be teaching their children. They are our future and unfortunately right now most young people do not know or understand what happened during World War II and I’m trying to bring that to them in the forefront,“ Ipson said. Ipson is also the co-founder of the Holocaust Museum in Richmond and was the first U.S. citizen to receive the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award. Ipson says if there is one message he could get across today, it would be that religious intolerance can be prevented through education and studying of historical events like the Holocaust.
