Senate, Assembly honor Holocaust victims

Thursday, May 8, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchilgiani, D-Las Vegas, described Irene Gut Opdyke as "a spark of decency and hope out of the cremated ashes of the Holocaust."

Opdyke, who was an 18-year-old Catholic nursing student who was living in Poland at the beginning of World War II, was forced to work in a German munitions factory and later served as a maid in a Nazi officer's villa.

The villa, designed by a Jewish architect, included a basement hiding place where Opdyke eventually hid 12 Jews.

"God gave us free will and all of us have to choose what will to take, whether we take the good or the bad," Opdyke said in thickly accented English. "I asked God to help me, even if my life depended on it."

All the people she hid survived the war, and Opdyke was eventually given a Medal of Righteousness in Israel. She now tours the country telling her story.

"Thank you for allowing me to share a story of unbelievable evil which was also a part of my life," Opdyke said. "Don't hate. It ruins your life, your family, your country."

The speech was particularly moving for Assemblywoman Genie Ohrenshcall, D-Las Vegas. Ohrenschall's mother, who died several months ago, was a member of the underground in Greece during World War II and helped save Ohrenschall's father from a Nazi concentration camp.

"My mother celebrated Yom Hashoa (the Jewish holiday of Holocaust remembrance) every year. This is the first year I won't have her here for it," Ohrenschall said.