A few weeks before his third birthday, Ernie Brod sailed into New York Harbor with his mother aboard the Portuguese ship Serpa Pinto. It was the spring of 1941, and the pair’s journey had been long and harrowing. Before the Nazi occupation of Austria, the Brod family had been prominent film producers, living lavishly and frequently attending movie premieres alongside well-known actors and actresses of the era. But, in 1938, Ernie’s father was imprisoned during the Anschluss, Nazi Germany’s takeover of Austria. He died in prison a few years later, while his brother, Manfred, remained in hiding in England, sheltered by a Jewish couple. After a perilous escape that took them through wartorn Austria, France and Spain, Ernie and his mother finally secured safe passage to the United States.

So began the remarkable story of Ernie Brod, an 87-year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor who met remotely with Blair students this week from his home in New York. 

History teacher Anna Raley, who teaches Modern European History at Blair, invited Mr. Brod to speak in the hope that students would understand the importance of bearing witness to these events in history. “Mr. Brod’s story is different from the one all sophomores just read with Elie Wiesel’s Night, and it is a unique experience that impacted many people but is also fairly unknown.”  

Blair history students have examined how the Holocaust didn’t happen overnight—it was a slow, calculated process that eventually impacted the entire world. Mr. Brod reinforced this idea, explaining that the Nazi rise to power was methodical, beginning with their control of communication. The Brod family’s company, Lux Films, was targeted, he believes, for this reason. 

“The first thing they did was grab control of the methods of communications…the Nazis went after all the companies in those fields,” he told the audience. “My grandfather’s company [Lux Films] was accused of tax evasion, as an excuse for taking over the company. All the men who worked there were arrested. They were eventually sent to Buchenwald concentration camp.”

Although Mr. Brod was too young to remember much of the German occupation firsthand, he later discovered a startling collection of family documents hidden in an old  briefcase—letters between his parents, records of his father’s imprisonment and  inventories of everything the Nazis forced his family to document before their belongings were confiscated. “Jews were required to make an exhaustive listing of everything in their homes—silverware, dishes, curtains—everything you can think of,” he explained, sharing these chilling records with the audience. 

Despite the trauma of his early years, much of Mr. Brod’s story is one of resilience. When he and his mother arrived in the United States, they were sponsored by a relative, whom his mother eventually married. They settled in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, living modestly, and with a newfound sense of security. Mr. Brod had, he said, one goal: to become American as soon as possible. “I learned the fastest way to do that was to root for the Brooklyn Dodgers. I became the biggest fan the Brooklyn Dodgers had ever known.” 

Thirteen years after landing at Ellis Island as a refugee, Mr. Brod enrolled in Columbia University, part of a large cohort of Jewish students from New York City. He became an attorney and eventually spent 40 years as a corporate investigator, earning widespread recognition as an expert in his field. At age 21, when his mother became terminally ill, he also reunited with his brother, Manfred, who had grown up in England with his foster family. Their relationship, Mr. Brod happily noted, remains remarkably close to this day. “This past November was his 90th birthday. My wife and I traveled to London for it,” he told the audience. 

During the question-and-answer session that followed Mr. Brod’s tale, students asked why he continues to share his experience today. “The frightening rise in antisemitism…has made me feel that I have a story to tell,” he replied. “There are people who deny and diminish the Holocaust, who feel that too much attention is being paid to the Holocaust and that we should move on.”

He left students with this final thought: “Combating discrimination and hatred whenever you see it is something you need to do. Be aware of the thoughtlessness and, worse, hatred, that is around us….There is no easy way out of this. Please remember, there is a horrible possibility at the end of acts of discrimination and hatred. It happened in WWII and the Holocaust and it can happen again if we don’t remember history and learn from it.”

Mr. Brod’s testimony was presented as part of The Alexander “ARob” Roberts Forum on Holocaust Education, established in 2022, in memory of Alexander Roberts ’18. A beloved member of the Blair community, Alex was known for his kindness, leadership and a commitment to service that began with his Boy Scout Eagle Service Project, a memorial and film to honor Holocaust survivor Ira Lulinski and others who perished, aiming to educate and combat denial. Today the forum continues his legacy, bringing speakers to Blair each year to discuss Holocaust-related topics and ensuring that Alex’s commitment to remembrance lives on.