Max and Rose Schindler, an unassuming elderly couple, sat quietly together, waiting for their turn to speak. The next hour would be dedicated to stories of their remarkable courage in the face of historic evil and conclude with a revelation that would surprise the Schindlers and their audience.

The couple, both Holocaust survivors, took turns sharing personal stories to Sailors and civilian personnel during Navy Region Southwest's Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony, May 12. Married for 65 years, the couple have told their stories for more than four decades, reminding people of the terror that came from oppression and prejudice.

For both Max and Rose, the beginnings of their teenage years were full of loss and terror. In April 1944, Rose lost her mother and three younger siblings to the gas chamber, her father to illness in Auschwitz, and her oldest brother to an open grave execution. Rose and her three older sisters were incarcerated in the concentration camp for over a year.

She remembers vividly how liberation from the camp, courtesy of the Soviet army, felt.

"Going into town, holding this Russian soldier's hand, I felt like I was reborn," said Rose. "I was free! I could do whatever I want. Nobody could tell me anymore what to do. A new world opened up to me."

The Schindlers had endured one of history's most dreadful times, where six million Jews had perished.

Rose said she was able to escape death more than once by being fearless.

"I was not afraid to do things, I was brave and courageous and I had guts," she said. "For a 14-year-old, I did a lot of things that nobody else would probably do to survive the camps."

Over the course of three years, starting in 1938, Max survived six concentration camps and suffered the loss of his parents and only sister. He and his brother would later be liberated by the Russians and sent to a hostel for orphans. That is where he met Rose.

Max, a soft-spoken man, kept his presentation brief, and then opened the floor for questions.

The first person to step up was Cmdr. Alexander Maitre, who didn't have a question for the Schindlers, but a revelation.

Maitre revealed that his father had been Hitler Youth and his grandfather had served in the 2nd and 12th SS Panzer Division, two of more than 20 divisions of Hitler's Waffen SS armed force.

Still affected by his family's past, Maitre said his history is now rooted in America.

"I'm first generation American," said Maitre. "What my family did, I apologize for it," he said to Max.

Acknowledging Maitre's sincere apology, Max said calmly, "The past is the past. We should all go forward and never go back to that thinking."

Maitre, Chief of Plans for Navy Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP), later admitted the moment was heavier than he anticipated.

"I didn't expect it, but my eyes are welling up with tears."

While the Schindlers have moved on and created a better life for themselves, they have found peace in sharing their painful memories. For these two survivors, it's a way to honor their families.

"Whatever you do, stay together," is one of the last things Rose's father had said to her. "Stay alive so you can tell the world what they're doing to us."

At 86-years-old, Rose and Max continue to fulfill her father's last wish.

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