Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center's (MARMC) Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Committee hosted a Holocaust remembrance program, featuring guest speaker Frank Shatz, aboard Naval Station Norfolk, May 20.

MARMC EEO Chairperson Ray Durant introduced MARMC Executive Officer Capt. Steven Connell for the opening remarks.

"Today, we gather to mourn the loss of many lives and celebrate those that saved them, to honor those who survived and contemplate the obligations of the living," said Connell. "There's an old saying, 'A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.' Let's take a minute to remember, and let us never forget. We are fortunate today to be in the presence of author and Holocaust survivor, Frank Shatz."

MARMC Waterfront Operations LHA/LHD Class Team Lead David Furey invited Shatz to the event days earlier and told the audience exactly how he did it, before introducing Shatz to the podium.

"He has lived in some horrible times, has been married 68 years, has been in the country a number of years, an entrepreneur, a writer and an international correspondent -- Frank Shatz," said Furey.

Shatz, author of "Reports from a Distant Place," spoke of his life in a Nazi slave labor camp, his escape and being a member of the anti-Nazi underground, as well as his life under and escape of the Communist regime.

"I was born in Czechoslovakia, in a small town on the banks of the Danube river, and for our family, it was secure and prosperous," said Shatz. "My ancestors lived in the same town for over 300 years -- they were green merchants and manufactured brandy. And then the Munich Agreement between Hitler and Chamberlain, British Prime Minister, shattered our lives."

According to Shatz, Democratic Czechoslovakia was dismembered in the southern part of the country, where the Shatz family lived on the Hungarian border, and was incorporated into Hungary -- at that time, an already close ally of Hitler Germany.

"From then on, life for my family and all the Jews in Hungary started to deteriorate," said Shatz. "In March 1944, hell descended on us. Hitler occupied Hungary and the transportation of the Jews to extermination camps began."

Shatz was seized by the Nazis and transported by cattle car to Transylvania, which is now a part of Romania, but was occupied then by Hungary. Shatz was taken as a slave laborer, expected to build a railroad over the Carpathian Mountains to serve the needs of the German army.

"I was barely 18 years old and it was back-breaking work on a starvation diet," said Shatz. "It would have killed me, but what saved me was my knowledge of handling horses. As a kid, I had my own pony and knew how to take care of him. As it happened, the camp commandant needed a groom for his horses."

No one else in the group of Jewish slave laborers knew anything about how to handle horses, and that's how Shatz got the job. He drove the camp commandant by carriage daily to the neighboring Romanian villages and befriended a few of the Romanians who occasionally gave him extra food and pieces of old clothing.

"Those were desperate times - it was difficult living in those conditions," said Shatz. "People were suffering and many of them were dying all around me. We lived under these conditions for about six months and then the threat of being overrun by others in the army forced the Nazis to march us day and night to Budapest, the capital city of Hungary."

The Jewish slave laborers reached Budapest in fall 1944. There, they were put to work repairing the railroad lines damaged by allied bombardment.

"I was almost killed by the many bombs dropped by B-17s, but it was ultimately what saved my life," said Shatz. "It is how I was able to escape from the slave labor camp. I was fully aware of the risk involved - I knew that if apprehended, I would be executed on the spot. Staying in the camp and being sent to an Auschwitz extermination camp wasn't an alternative either."

Shatz managed to escape during the aerial bombardment and set out to reach the inner city of Budapest. He had no money or identification papers. He was, however, dressed in civilian clothing that a Romanian peasant had given him. Shatz had hidden the civilian clothes by wearing them under his camp uniform, and when he escaped, he simply shed the uniform.

"I managed to slip into the inner city and carefully avoided numerous checkpoints set up by the police and the fascist militia," said Shatz. "I was wandering the streets of Budapest like a hunted animal, searching for shelter, and suddenly in an incredible coincidence - I literally ran into the arms of my brother-in-law, who also escaped from a slave labor camp in Yugoslavia."

Shatz' brother-in-law had joined the anti-Nazi underground movement and took Shatz to a safe-house set up by Raoul Wallenberg (a Swedish diplomat who, risking his own life, saved thousands of Jews).

According to Shatz, hunting down Jewish people had become a great past time to the fascist militia during the last phase of the war in Budapest.

"To avoid bringing attention to myself, I rented a bed in the apartment of a Hungarian woman whose son became the commander of the fascist militia that specialized in hunting down Jews and killing them," said Shatz. "I reasoned that no one in his right mind would suspect that a Jew would dare to seek shelter in the home of his potential killer - but it is exactly what happened."

Shatz lived in that apartment for a few weeks. During the day, Russian airplanes flew by dropping bombs on the streets of Budapest. As a result, Shatz spend most of his days with a friend in the basement of a different apartment. He returned to his rented apartment space by 5:00 p.m. every day to avoid being stopped by police in the streets during the 6:00 p.m. curfew.

"One day, I lingered until 5:30 p.m. before I got back to the apartment," said Shatz. "A Russian aerial bomb hit the apartment and had injured four other working men that lived there. There was a lot of commotion and everything was in shambles. The only thing that remained was my suitcase under the bed."

With the Russians being so close, Shatz believed that if he could survive for a few more days, he would be safe. Czechoslovakia was liberated a few months later.

Shatz found out that of his family, only his father and brother survived. Two dozen of his family members had perished during the Holocaust. He picked himself up and went to Prague to resume his studies and became a foreign press journalist.

"When the Communists took over, I got so used to not living under a dictatorial regime that I joined an anti-Communist underground in Prague," said Shatz. "Finally, my wife and I also had to escape. We came to America and it was the best thing we ever did in our life."

MARMC employees spent the next few minutes asking Shatz questions about his life's journey, including a question about what made him want to talk to people about the Holocaust after so many years of silence.

"People can help themselves," said Shatz. "You have to have hope, you have to have the will to survive, and on top of it, nothing is ever so tragic as it is originally presented. Someone always shows up to help you. People are basically good - if you give them a chance, they will give you assistance. I have great hope in human kind that things will get better and better."

Durant thanked Shatz for his compelling speech and invited MARMC Executive Director Dennis Bevington to give the closing remarks.

"We are so grateful to bear witness to such a brave and courageous person (Shatz)," said Bevington. "You are a tribute to all mankind and we need to take this opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of your generation. Thank you Mr. Shatz and thank everyone for attending."

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