Lehigh Acres Middle School is pleased to welcome Marcel Fachler, Holocaust survivor of World War II who will speak at the school on Social Studies Night this coming Thursday, May 26th at 6:00pm. A spaghetti dinner will be served at 5:30pm to the first 150 people who attend the presentation. The public is invited to attend. For more information, call the school at 369-6108.
Marcel Fachler’s family fled from Germany and settled in Belgium. Marcel was born two days after World War II began. He was sent into hiding in an orphanage where he grew up, removed from his family, and only visited by his mother twice per year. His childhood was difficult as he struggled with other children in the orphanage and from visits by Nazi patrols. Because of the years in the orphanage, (he was later joined by a newly born sister), he had a testy relationship with his father. Only years later did Marcel discover that his father helped save Jews in a local synagogue. Marcel went on to embrace life, studying or working as a chocolatier, baker, and eventually a gemstone dealer who traveled the world buying and selling gemstones. He sold a jewelry-oriented pawn store in Cleveland, Ohio and moved to Naples, Florida where he now lives with his wife.