Event occurred on Wednesday, November 10, 2021.
Dr. Al Miller was born in Berlin, Germany in 1922. His family owned a successful clothing company, and he has many happy memories of his early childhood. As an active youth, he enjoyed sports until one day he arrived at his favorite recreation center to find it forbidden to Jews. He also was an enthusiastic student. He remembers many of his childhood friends joining the Hitler Youth and wearing their uniforms with pride and cutting him out of their lives for being Jewish. He was the last Jewish student to remain in his class until it was made too uncomfortable for him to stay.
In 1936, Al attended the infamous Berlin Olympics in which American runner Jesse Owens won four medals. As conditions became worse for the Jews of Germany, his family put together a plan to leave the country and resettle elsewhere. Al departed Nazi Germany in 1937 for Switzerland, while his brother was sent to England. His parents remained in Germany, enduring Kristallnacht and hiding in a friend’s home. The family was eventually to reunite in England before immigrating to America in 1939. Al settled in Hamilton, Ohio where he practiced optometry until his retirement.
Steve Coppel is the son of two Holocaust Survivors, Trudy and Werner Coppel. Both his parents have an amazing story of survival, perseverance, rebuilding and love which is featured throughout HHC. Steve’s dad, Werner, was a survivor of Auschwitz. He was the first Holocaust Survivor in Cincinnati to speak publicly about his experiences. Starting in the early 1970’s, Werner spoke at schools, churches, meetings and public gatherings stressing the ills of hate and prejudice but also encouraging his audiences to stand up to them even when they didn’t apply to them personally.
Generously sponsored by Margaret and Michael Valentine and presented in partnership with the Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center and Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage.
