Saratoga Jewish Cultural Festival Welcomes ‘A Train Near Magdeburg’ Author to Share Inspiring Holocaust Story

SARATOGA SPRINGS, – The Saratoga Jewish Cultural Festival, with a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York and sponsorship of Temple Sinai of Saratoga Springs, presents an evening with author Matthew Rozell, author of A Train Near Magdeburg on Tuesday, July 15 at 7 p.m.

Rozell, a Hudson Falls, N.Y. native, will share a teacher’s journey into the Holocaust and the reunions it inspired some 70 years later. The program will be offered at Temple Sinai, 509 Broadway, Saratoga Springs and on Zoom.

A Train Near Magdeburg is the true story behind an iconic photograph taken when American soldiers liberated a death train deep in the heart of Nazi Germany. It also brings to life the story of a dedicated high school history teacher who reunited hundreds of Holocaust survivors and their children with the American soldiers who rescued them.

In A Train Near Magdeburg, Rozell reconstructs a lost chapter from the closing days of World War II. In April 1945, a train crammed with Jews left Bergen Belsen.

After seven days of shuttling on the tracks, the train stopped in a forest, hiding for cover from Allied planes. U.S. Tank Battalion 743 happened upon the train, and Major Clarence Benjamin stood and snapped the now famous photograph as the Americans liberated the Jews inside.

According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the train carried about 2,500 concentration camp inmates, primarily Jewish. Many died during transit.

This train, one of three that left Bergen-Belsen between April 6 and 10, was bound for Theresienstadt. Only one train arrived in Theresienstadt; the third was liberated by Soviet forces outside of Troebitz.

Rozell reconstructs the story, drawing on eyewitness accounts, survivor testimony, memoirs, wartime reports, and personal letters. He weaves together a chronology of the Holocaust as it unfolds across Europe and retraces the steps of the survivors and the American soldiers who freed them.

To register for the panel discussion in person or on Zoom, go to https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/DaOhZ1H/Magdeburg.

When the Registration Page appears, complete the requested information. If you have questions, please email us at sjca.sjcf@gmail.com