Sharpsville Area Middle School students learned about the Holocaust on Thursday, but not from textbooks. They heard about it from two people who witnessed it.

Fritz Ottenheimer of Forest Hills, Pa., and Violet Weinburger of Squirrel Hill, Pa., spoke with the students about their experiences as Jews in Europe under Adolf Hitler's rule.

Language arts teachers Kathy Napotnick and Patti Bodnar arranged the assembly for the students, who have been studying the Holocaust. Ms. Bodnar said all the language arts teachers feel very strongly about teaching the students tolerance and being kind to others, and the Holocaust is one way to raise awareness.

Ottenheimer was born and raised in Germany. His family managed to escape to the United States just months before World War II began. Mrs. Weinburger, a native of the former Czechoslovakia, was sent to a concentration camp when she was 15 years old.

During her talk, Mrs. Wein-burger peppered her sentences with references to "Nazi murderers."

"It's so important that the future generation learns about the Holocaust," she told the students. "Every student and every adult should know what happened during the Holocaust."

Although she said it is painful to her to recount the memories, Mrs. Weinburger noted it's crucial that people know what happened.

"No matter how painful it is, no matter how much it hurts, I must speak about the Holocaust," she said, adding she has been speaking about her experience for about 10 years.

Mrs. Weinburger told the students about how she and her family were herded into a packed railroad car and deported to Auschwitz concentration camp.

"Most of my family did not survive the Holocaust," she said.

At the camp, Mrs. Weinburger, her mother and her sisters were forced into back-breaking work while receiving only a slice of bread to eat each day. Their heads were shaved, they were issued one uniform with a number on it and they were not permitted to wear socks or underwear.

"I cannot find words to tell you how degrading it was," she said.

After the Russian army liberated the camp, Mrs. Weinburger was able to escape to America. Sadly, her mother and her oldest sister did not make it.

Ottenheimer has been speaking about the Holocaust for 15 years, but it wasn't always easy.

"It took me a long time for me to get to the point where I was ready to talk about it," he said. "My kids didn't find out about my background until they became adults."

Ottenheimer grew up in the small town of Konstanz, located on the Switzerland border. His parents owned a small menswear shop and were not wealthy, but Ottenheimer said he had "a rather pleasant life."

Then, in 1933, Hitler came to power. Ottenheimer was only 8 years old at the time.

"Even as an 8-year-old, I knew something was happening," he said.

Soon the Nazi party had control of the country. Jews were not allowed to go to the theater, sporting events or even sit on park benches. Any Jew who worked for the government was fired.

"Normally laws are made by the government to protect people from criminals," Ottenheimer said. "Here, criminals were running the government and they could pass any law they wanted to."

In early 1938, Hitler took over Austria, and the persecution of Jews became even worse. People were afraid to go into Jewish-owned stores, forcing Ottenheimer's parents to close their shop.

Because Konstanz was a border town, many people came to stay with the Ottenheimers, who helped smuggle them across the border into Switzerland. A police inspector found out what the family was doing and offered to help. He collected a fee of 10 marks from each person and arranged taxis to take them across the border.

The Ottenheimers helped 200 to 300 people escape into Switzerland before the border was closed.

"I always make it a point to mention the police inspector when I talk to a group," Ottenheimer said. "I know you've heard about some of the things the German border guards were guilty of. It's also important to know there were some Germans who risked their careers, their lives, the lives of their families, to help people being unjustly persecuted by the German government."

The day after Kristellnacht -- the Night of Broken Glass -- in November 1938, Ottenheimer's father was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Dachau concentration camp. He returned a month later.

Soon after, in May 1939, the family left the country and moved to the United States. Ottenheimer later returned to Germany to fight as a U.S. Army soldier in World War II.

"My father was a German soldier. In World War I he fought for the fatherland," Ottenheimer said. "As an American soldier, I fought against the fatherland in World War II."

When a student asked him how it felt for him to fight against his home country, Ottenheimer replied that his feelings were mixed. He'd had a happy childhood, but he did not like what the country became after the Nazi government took over.

One message Ottenheimer and Mrs. Weinburger wanted to convey to the students was tolerance.

"I hope you never forget me. Even if you forget my name, that's OK," Mrs. Weinburger said. "If you hear bigotry or hate, speak up. Don't be a silent bystander ... tell them that hatred has horrible consequences."

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Erin Remai at eremai@sharon-herald.com