Rear Adm. Paul Verrastro, Commander, NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support, provided remarks at a Holocaust Remembrance program Apr. 14 aboard Naval Support Activity Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

The program, sponsored by Naval Supply Systems Command, was open to all NSA Mechanicsburg military and civilian personnel. Ms. Hilda Mantelmacher, a Holocaust survivor, provided keynote remarks.

Verrastro began the ceremony by introducing Mantelmacher.

"Thank you very much for taking the time to be here with us. Your presence is a gift and we are honored that you came to speak to us about your experience at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps," Verrastro said. "The Holocaust was a horrible event in our world's history. Hearing your experiences first-hand reminds us to remain vigilant to ensure nothing like it happens again."

Mantelmacher then took the stage and began speaking about her experience during the Holocaust. She described what life was like before she was sent to Auschwitz. "I had to wear a yellow star so everyone would know that I am Jewish," she recalled. "My friends would not play with me or look at me anymore. Even today, it is still painful because my friends just turned away from me."

She went on to describe her first day at the concentration camp, how Dr. Josef Mengele would greet all new arrivals with a whip in his hand. "If he whipped to the left side, you die immediately. You were sent to the gas chamber. A whip to the right, you live in torment a little while longer in slavery. None of us knew the meaning behind the whip."

Mantelmacher spoke about life at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, as well as life after the war. After her remarks, she showed an excerpt from "Memory of the Camps," a documentary about what Allied forces liberating Europe found as they entered German concentration camps.

Following the film Mantelmacher opened the floor up to questions.

When asked how old she was when she was taken, Mantelmacher said that she didn't know, and did not know when her birthday is.

"I have a birthday every day," she said. "When I get up in the morning, I have water, I have bread, I have toiletries. It's my birthday. Every day."

At the conclusion of the program, Verrastro presented Mantelmacher with a plaque and then offered closing remarks.

"As we leave here today, let us carry what we have heard as a reminder to stand up when we see prejudice and oppression. As a reminder to always treat others with dignity and respect. Let us take what we have learned and choose to act."

A field activity of the Naval Supply Systems Command, NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support (NAVSUP WSS) is the U.S. Navy's supply chain manager providing worldwide support to the aviation, surface ship, and submarine communities. NAVSUP WSS provides Navy, Marine Corps, joint and allied forces with products and services that deliver combat capability through logistics. There are more than 2,000 civilian and military personnel employed at its two Pennsylvania sites. The NAVSUP WSS Philadelphia site supports aircraft, while its Mechanicsburg site supports ships and submarines.

For more news from Naval Supply Systems Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/navsup/