Dana Kursh has a personal connection to the Holocaust - her grandmother was a survivor.
She said her grandmother hid in a friend's cupboard for months to avoid being found by the Nazis. Her grandmother's eight siblings did not survive.
Kursh, a vice consulate of Israel in Houston, came to the Hillel House on Sunday to speak about Turkey's involvement in the Holocaust. Emriye Ormanci, a vice consulate from Turkey, also came to speak.
The consulates showed a documentary, "Desperate Hours," which detailed the relationship Turkey had with Germany during the Holocaust. Because of Turkey's neutrality in World War II and its diplomatic ties with Germany, many Turkish Jews were saved from concentration camps, according to the film.
"I owe my life to Turkey," one man in the film said.
Kursh said the documentary is important, because it teaches people about the past.
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"The biggest loss we suffer is that a lot of Holocaust survivors refuse to speak," she said. "They are hampering our future. Their stories need to be told."
Ormanci said she takes pride in being a diplomat from Turkey, especially after watching the documentary. The film featured a diplomat stationed in France who got on a train heading for a concentration camp. He knew when SS military men discovered he was a Turkish diplomat, they would let everyone on the train go - but it was a huge gamble.
"I wondered when I first saw this film if I would do the same thing," Ormanci said. "It's easy to say I would. It's the norm to save innocent lives, not the exception."
Kursh agreed. She said that situation seems inconceivable.
"As trained diplomats, one of our goals is to protect our citizens," she said. "We thank God we were never put in that spot. It gives us a sense of pride and privilege that this responsibility was given to us."
She said to hear the diplomat's story makes her proud to do the line of work she does.
Eric Kohen, co-chairman of Hillel House, said he had no idea about the extent of the history between Turkey and Israel.
"It was definitely an eye-opener for me," he said.
Turkey and Israel have been close allies since Israel declared independence in 1948. Ormanci said the two countries have their disagreements from time to time, but it's nothing major.
"It's like a marriage," she said. "We may have discussions and fights, but we always keep that close relationship.
Kursh said one good thing came to the Jews after the Holocaust.
"From the ashes of the Holocaust came the state of Israel," she said.
Many Jews immigrated to Israel after World War II, because they wanted a place of their own, Kursh said.
"That was the only way they could survive," she said. "Israel has become a safe harbor for Jewish people in case, God forbid, this kind of thing happens again."
Kursh said education is the first step in preventing another tragedy like the Holocaust, where 6 million Jews and 5 million others were killed.
"This is something we should all learn from," she said.
