DW: Volkswagen Unveils Plaque to Jewish Hitler Youth Member

[blackhorse]

Volkswagen Unveils Plaque to Jewish Hitler Youth Member

German carmaker Volkswagen honored a man who survived the Holocaust by pretending to be a member of the Hitler Youth and apprenticed at the company plant in Braunschweig.

Tears glistened in the eyes of Solomon Perel, 81, a Jew who survived the Holocaust by joining the Hitler Youth, as a plaque was unveiled Monday in the Volkswagen plant where he trained as a toolmaker during World War II.

Perel's extraordinary escape, by adopting the name Josef Perjell and pretending to be an ethnic German from Russia, was the subject of an internationally released 1990 feature film, "Europa Europa."

Born in Peine, Germany, near the site of the Nazis' Volkswagen or "people's car" project, Perel moved with his family to Lodz, Poland in 1935 after the family shoe-shop was attacked by Nazis.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2223299,00.html

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Maybe that's why there are so many hidden gay men in the Republican

party? They're waiting it out until times change?

[Ian David]

9. That's EXACTLY why there are closeted gays in The GOP.

They're hiding in plain sight.

[cspanlovr]

2. What an incredible story. Thanks for posting it.

[nealmhughes]

3. Europa, Europa is a fantastic movie! The suspense is total as Sol has one

close call after another, it seemed to be his blue eyes and blonde hair and his excellent command of German, Polish and Russian that saved him...he looked and sounded like what Nazis expected the perfect Aryan youth to look like.

There is a lot more in the movie than just his Nazi adventures, it is a fantastic coming of age story as well, beautifully fimed and the acting is superb.

I think a movie like this would be the perfect movie for motivating young people against prejudice.

[LostinVA]

5. He has/had dark brown hair

But, his features were used in an HJ class as an example of perfect Aryan features...

[LostinVA]

4. "Europa, Europa" -- great book and movie

He went through some hair-raising experiences. He should have been caught a thousand times overs. Luck, wits, courage, and some good Germans helped him make it.

[Lurking Dem]

6. Incredible story

bizarre headline.

[Hawkeye-X]

7. Solomon Perel

That movie "Europa, Europa" was based in on Perel's story.

I am amazed that he is still alive!

[nealmhughes]

8. He was born in 1921, so he is 80 or 81 now.

It has been ages since I saw the movie. Now I want to see it again, Solek!