ANKENY, Iowa—One of the last survivors of the Holocaust will visit three Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) campuses and describe the horror she personally experienced during her childhood.

Celina Karp Biniaz, 87, is a graduate of Des Moines North High School and Grinnell College.  She will recount growing up in Krakow, Poland, being on Schindler’s List, but being accidentally sent to Auschwitz.

There, she confronted the infamous Josef Mengele, who sentenced her to death.  Biniaz pleaded for her life saying, “Let Me Go.”  Miraculously, the Angel of Death changed his mind.

The DMACC presentations are free and open to the public:
·         DMACC Ankeny Campus, 10 to 11:05 a.m., Tuesday, April 2, Bldg. #6 Auditorium
·         DMACC Urban Campus, 10:10 to 11:05 a.m., Wednesday, April 3, Bldg. #1, Rooms 124/126
·         DMACC Boone Campus, 11:15 a.m. to 12:40 p.m., Thursday, April 4, Boone Campus Theater

“Because so few Holocaust survivors are still with us, hearing Celina’s firsthand account is invaluable,” said DMACC History Professor Dr. Matthew Walsh. “The recent hate crimes at the church in Charleston, synagogue in Pittsburgh, and mosque in New Zealand demonstrate Celina’s message—‘Do not teach hatred’—needs to be heard today.”

The Biniaz presentations are sponsored by DMACC’s new War and Human Experience Series.  Her talks are part of a partnership between the War and Human Experience program and the Iowa Jewish Historical Society. For more information, go to https://www.dmacc.edu/veterans/Pages/series.aspx.