Holocaust survivor to speak at DOE women’s program

Holocaust survivor Arthur Pais will speak at a program sponsored by federal workers in Oak Ridge next week.

The free Aug. 8 program is open to the public. It’s co-sponsored by the Oak Ridge Federal Women’s Program, or FWP, and the Federally Employed Women Oak Ridge Chapter.

It’s scheduled from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Aug. 8 at the American Museum of Science and Energy at 300 South Tulane Ave. in Oak Ridge.

Pais was born in Lithuania in 1927. During the Second World War, he spent four years in German concentration camps, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office.

After the war, in 1946, Pais came to the United States. He lived in Chicago and attended night school, earning a degree in mechanical engineering.

Pais started his own manufacturing company in Chicago in 1949, the press release said. In 1963, he started several industries in Morristown, Tenn., that introduced new technologies. His company grew to more than 400 employees. The company was sold in 1977.

In 1983, he built a new plant as a joint venture with a German company introducing new products to the woodworking and furniture industry. Pais retired in 1990 and began doing volunteer work, including being a counselor at SCORE for business startups, and also worked as a consultant.

He is now a frequent speaker about the Holocaust to schools and church groups, the release said. Pais resides with his wife Mimi in Knoxville. The couple has four children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

For program information, contact Oak Ridge FWP committee member Heather Harris at (865) 576-0879.