100 Years Old: Celebrating and Reflecting with Hol – Cincinnatian, U.S. Veteran, and Holocaust Survivor

Join the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center as we celebrate the 100th Birthday of Dr. Al Miller, a beloved Cincinnatian, U.S. veteran, and Holocaust survivor. In conversation with former Chief Executive Officer Sarah Weiss, Miller will share his story and his advice and reflections on living a fulfilling and meaningful life. The conversation will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Reakirt Auditorium, followed by a reception with cake and refreshments in the Union Terminal Rotunda.

Dr. Al Miller was born in Berlin, Germany in 1922. His family owned a successful clothing company, and he has many happy memories of his early childhood. As an active youth, he enjoyed sports until one day he arrived at his favorite recreation center to find it forbidden to Jews. He also was an enthusiastic student. He remembers many of his childhood friends joining the Hitler Youth and wearing their uniforms with pride and cutting him out of their lives for being Jewish. He was the last Jewish student to remain in his class until it was made too uncomfortable for him to stay.

In 1936, Al attended the infamous Berlin Olympics in which American runner Jesse Owens won four medals. As conditions became worse for the Jews of Germany, his family put together a plan to leave the country and resettle elsewhere. Al departed Nazi Germany in 1937 for Switzerland, while his brother was sent to England. His parents remained in Germany, enduring Kristallnacht and hiding in a friend’s home. The family was eventually to reunite in England before immigrating to America in 1939. Al settled in Hamilton, Ohio where he practiced optometry until his retirement.

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