As a young Jewish teenage boy, Henry Oertelt lived with his mother and brother in Berlin, Germany as the storm clouds of Hitler’s Nazi hatred, discrimination and violence toward Jews grew darker. Henry avoided arrest by the Gestapo until 1943, when at age 22 he began his amazing saga of surviving five Nazi concentration camps. His story of the 18 cliff-hanging events which led to his Nazi death camp survival is told in his book, An Unbroken Chain.

In a world premiere podcast here at KVSC, Dr. Oertelt tells his astounding story of survival, human dignity and perseverance.

Dr. Oertelt has a long history of involvement with SCSU, and with Holocaust remembrance activities. He is the recipient of many honors, among them an Honorary Doctorate from SCSU in 2006, and an Honorary Doctorate from Southwest State University in Marshall in 2007.