SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany — Vera Bondy never endured the horror of a Nazi concentration camp, but she wants people to know that she is a victim of the Holocaust.

Her Jewish grandparents were killed in 1942, but the pain of the tragedy lingers for generations. She said even the children of the postwar generation can be traumatized by the Holocaust.

Years after the liberation of the concentration camps in 1945, some Jewish families feared that new camps would emerge. So they trained their children to survive even a decade after war’s end.

“Can you imagine the parents get this young child out of bed in the middle of the night, shout at him, force him to stand still in his pajamas for hours on end … forcing the child to stand at attention all night, not once, not twice, but a couple of nights a week for years and years?” Bondy asked.

“That’s horrible, isn’t it? That’s really horrible. And still in the eyes of the parents, it was an act of love. They tried to train their children, hoping they would be able to survive a camp.

“Children born more than 10 years after 1945, they’re first-rate victims in my eyes.”

Bondy — a teacher and interfaith counselor who lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands — was the guest speaker at a Holocaust Remembrance luncheon at Spangdahlem Air Base on Thursday. During the day, people around the world remembered the 11 million people who died during the Holocaust, including 6 million Jews.

The luncheon was part of several remembrance activities at the base, home to the 52nd Fighter Wing.

During the luncheon, students from nearby Bitburg High School lit 11 candles. Each candle symbolized 1 million Holocaust victims, which included Christians and people who spoke out against the tragedy.

To put the number of Holocaust victims in perspective, Bondy showed slides displaying the populations of seven U.S. states. The combined population of Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming is less than the 6 million Jews killed.

Air Force Chaplain (Capt.) Corwin Smith said recalling the Holocaust reveals how important it is to practice tolerance.

“I think something like this shows us today how important it is to value each other regardless of religion,” he said.

Bondy, 62, never knew her grandparents and her own parents lived with the fact that they could not save their families. Although she was born in London, she and her sisters needed counseling and years of therapy to “become people in our own right, individuals.”

She said it is important that we not only remember the Holocaust and those who died but the generations that continue to suffer.

“We won’t forget, like we won’t forget the exodus from Egypt,” she said.