Patty Turner Center to Recognize Aaron Elston

On Tuesday morning, November 19, 2013, the Patty Turner Center Men's Group will pay tribute to Aaron Elster, a member of the group and survivor of the Holocaust.

Born in eastern Poland, Elster's family was in the process of boarding a train destined for a Nazi death camp when his father instructed ten-year old Aaron to, “Run!” The homeless boy lived in fields, forests and farm buildings until finally returning to his home town and being allowed to enter the house of a friend of his parents', who harbored the boy, doing so at great risk to themselves and their relatives. Aaron spent two years hiding in an un-insulated, unheated attic eating one small meal per day.

After the liberation of Poland in 1945, he joined an uncle and was smuggled into Czechoslovakia and then Germany, arriving finally in the United States, only to live in orphanages in New York and Chicago. Not being able to read or write, he entered Von Steuben High School in Chicago and eventually graduated. He served in the United States Army, was honorably discharged, and retired after a successful 40-year career in the insurance industry. He is married with two sons and three grandchildren.

The Patty Turner Center Men's Group meets every Tuesday morning for camaraderie (8:15-8:45 a.m.) and presentations by authorities on various topics of broad interest (8:45 -10:00 a.m.). Guests are welcome!