By / Published May 07, 2014
Team Mildenhall members listen as Zigi Shipper, a holocaust survivor, talks about his experiences April 30, 2014, in the base chapel on RAF Mildenhall, England. Shipper was born to Orthodox Jewish parents in Poland in 1930 and spent many years in ghettos and concentration camps during World War II. Following the liberation of the concentration camps in May 1945, Shipper arrived in England in 1947, where he married and started a family. (U.S. Air Force photo by Gina Randall/Released)
Zigi Shipper, a holocaust survivor, shares his experiences with Team Mildenhall members April 30, 2014, in the base chapel on RAF Mildenhall, England. Shipper was born to Orthodox Jewish parents in Poland in 1930 and spent many years in ghettos and concentration camps during World War II. When the war broke out, Shipper’s father escaped to Russia, believing that only young Jewish men were at risk, and not children or the elderly. Shipper never saw his father again and still does not know what happened to him. (U.S. Air Force photo by Gina Randall/Released)
U.S. Air Force Col. Kenneth T. Bibb, Jr., left, 100th Air Refueling Wing commander, presents Zigi Shipper, a holocaust survivor, with a “Square D” memento following a question and answer session April 30, 2014, in the base chapel on RAF Mildenhall, England. Shipper was born to Orthodox Jewish parents in Poland in 1930 and spent many years in ghettos and concentration camps during World War II. While living in the ghetto, Shipper worked in a metal factory. When the ghetto was liquidated in 1944, everyone from the metal factory was put onto cattle trucks and sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. (U.S. Air Force photo by Gina Randall/Released)
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Henry Close, 100th Air Refueling Wing Chaplain, talks to Zigi Shipper, a holocaust survivor, during a question and answer session April 30, 2014, in the base chapel on RAF Mildenhall, England. Shipper was born to Orthodox Jewish parents in Poland in 1930 and spent many years in ghettos and concentration camps during World War II. When he was five years old his parents divorced but because they were Orthodox Jews and divorce was frowned upon, he was told that his mother had died. Following the liberation of the concentration camp in May 1945, Shipper was saved by British soldiers. After surviving a near-death illness, Shipper was reunited with his mother, who was living in England. Shipper now lives in Hertfordshire and regularly shares his testimony in schools across the country. (U.S. Air Force photo by Gina Randall/Released)