Allan Rayburn, a lifelong Rochester resident, will recount his parents’ escape from Nazi Germany during a Holocaust Remembrance talk at Finger Lakes Community College on Tuesday, April 22.
Rayburn, a construction manager for PathStone Corp., will speak from 1 to 2 p.m. in the main campus auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
Rayburn grew up in the 1950s and 60s in Rochester and Irondequoit, the son of two Holocaust survivors. His father fled Germany after the Nazi rise to power, eventually serving in the British Army during World War II. His mother also escaped to England, where she joined the British Air Force.
Their experiences left a deep impression on Rayburn. Moved by their stories of English citizens sheltering Jewish refugee children, he and his wife, Leni, later opened their home to children displaced by the Bosnian War in the 1990s.
Rayburn’s talk will also be broadcast live on the Finger Lakes TV network. Viewers can tune in on Roku, Spectrum cable channel 1304 in the western Finger Lakes, or online at fingerlakestv.org. Event details and links are available at flcc.edu/events.
The event is part of FLCC’s History, Culture and Diversity series, organized by Robert Brown, professor of history.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].