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'It's My Duty To Make You Aware,' Says Holocaust Survivor Speaking In Reno

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Max Garcia is a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor who visited Reno this week from San Francisco to share his story of suffering starvation and torture while living in multiple Nazi concentration camps.

Garcia's late wife Pat chronicled his experiences in a book that they named after a haunting song that Garcia and other prisoners used to sing:

"Auschwitz, Auschwitz, I cannot forget you as long as I remain alive because when the time comes to die, I cannot die in as much as I've died here so many times."

After Auschwitz, Garcia also lived at a camp called Ebensee in Austria. He vividly recalls the day of his liberation, a memory he shares with our news director Michelle Billman.

As a warning, their conversation contains language that some may find offensive along with graphic details of violent acts. 

Garcia's Holocaust experience is chronicled in the book Auschwitz, Auschwitz, I Cannot Forget You As Long As I Remain Alive.  He visited the University of Nevada, Reno to speak for a special day of remembrance event hosted by the Hillel of Northern Nevada, the International Human Rights Club at UNR, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

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Michelle Billman is a former news director at KUNR Public Radio.