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Boardman Middle School marks World Peace Day, honors Holocaust survivor
BOARDMAN
“May Peace Prevail On Earth.”
That is the inscription, in five languages, on the pole that stands in Boardman Center Middle School’s front lawn.
It also is the wish that guided the life of the late William Vegh, a Jewish Holocaust survivor to whom the pole is dedicated.
Middle-school students, teachers, a rabbi and the family of Vegh gathered near the peace pole Friday to celebrate the International Day of Peace, a United Nations event that falls on Sunday this year.
They also honored Vegh and the message of peace he delivered to thousands of local students throughout his life. For nearly 20 years, Vegh spoke to local groups about his Holocaust experience.
“I never saw [Vegh] get angry,” said Jesse McClain, a teacher at Boardman Center. “What would be better to honor him than something symbolizing peace?”
The peace pole, one of thousands around the world dedicated to peace, was dedicated to Vegh in 2010, a year after his death.
Rabbi Joseph Schonberger spoke about Vegh at the ceremony.
“Mr. Vegh took it upon himself to speak to a great number of people in the area,” the rabbi said. “When you consider what he survived, the horrible, torturous conditions. ... If you have a spirit like Mr. Vegh, you can work for peace.”
Schonberger urged students to follow Vegh’s example and make a difference in the world.
Vegh’s daughter, Rochelle Miller of Liberty, shared some of her father’s story in an interview.
Vegh was born in Czechoslovakia in 1928, in a town called Apsa.
Vegh’s mother and four of his siblings died during the Holocaust. Vegh himself survived internments in five concentration camps, including Auschwitz.
Liberated by American soldiers in May 1944, Vegh moved to the United States in 1949.
Here, he met his wife, Lucille, and had three children. He worked at an aluminum company in Warren until he retired.
Once he retired, he started speaking to local groups about his experiences. Miller said she did not know her father was a Holocaust survivor until she was 12.
“A lot of [survivors] are able to put it in the back of their memory and push forward,” Miller said.
She thinks her father survived “through his faith and his belief that he was going to get through this horrible, horrible time in his life.”
Lucille Vegh, also of Liberty, estimated that her husband shared his story with as many as 250,000 people.
“When he died, it was a big loss because he was the only one who could speak to it,” McClain said, saying that Vegh shared stories with students such as what it was like being loaded on to one of the trains that carried prisoners to concentration camps.
His daughter said Vegh was dedicated to sharing the story of his survival, and making sure that something like the Holocaust would never happen again.
“It’s a wonderful thing,” Lucille Vegh said about the peace pole.
“His name will live on,” Miller said. “And, hopefully, peace will, too.”
To hear Vegh’s story in his own words, visit www.billvegh.com.