Polish-born David Faber was 13-years-old when he witnessed the murders of both his parents, his brother Romek and five of six sisters. His family was captured on the first day Germany invaded Poland. He was a victim to the Nazi's from 1939-45 and survived nine concentration camps. After serving as a partisan resistance fighter since age 13, he was liberated from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at age 18. He was near death, weighing only 72 pounds. He suffered from starvation and typhus, an infectious fever.
Faber will give presentations about his experience at North Dakota State University on Sunday and Monday, Sept. 27 and 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Festival Concert Hall in the Reineke Fine Arts Center. Through the support of Fargo Public Schools Development Foundation and Fargo Public Schools, both talks are free and open to the public. NDSU Campus Attractions and the Memorial Union also are sponsoring the event.
Twenty-five years after Romek's death, Faber was asked to be a witness for his brother's case. While giving testimony, memories of what he describes as fear and suffering, loss of family, degradation of camp existence and the struggle to stay alive and sane, came to the forefront of his mind and he wrote the autobiography "Because of Romek: A Holocaust Survivor's Memoir." The book tells of the many times he escaped death, the murders of his family members and friends, and how he managed to keep fighting even though he was exhausted, cold, hungry, frightened and ill.
Faber now lives in San Diego with his wife, Lina. His book is required reading at many academic institutions and will be available at his lectures. He has spoken to more than 7,500 students.
Faber also is scheduled to speak Thursday, Oct. 1, at 7:30 p.m. at the Fargo South High School auditorium.
For more information, please contact Matt Skoy, NDSU assistant director of Service Learning and Civic Engagment, at (701) 231-8566.