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The documentation of the Holocaust of World War II reveals the desperation of Jewish families to protect their loved ones from doom. In this oral history, Sonja (neé Niekerk) Walter recalls the story of being an infant handed off to a family friend for safety and nurturing. Next to Sonja is Wilma, her “sister” and the biological daughter of that friend. Sonja and Wilma are tethered together by history and love for Cor Vandenberg, mother and protector. Sonja was born in 1943 Holland to Simon and Rose Niekerk. At thirteen days of age she was given sanctuary by Cor, who raise her as her own for the next two and half years. She and Wilma reminisce about the circumstances that brought them together, their love of Cor, and the impact of being a child survivor of the Holocaust. Sonja also shares her family’s journey to the United States and to Las Vegas.

Kevin T. Orrock, president of Summerlin and vice president of Master Planned Communities for The Howard Hughes Corp., has come full circle. Born in Pioche, Nevada, he spent his early years in the San Francisco Bay area and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Graduating from a small liberal arts college, he arrived in Las Vegas in 1974 with a degree in accounting and a teaching credential, finding work in the Desert Inn accounting department. Howard Hughes owned the Desert Inn, so from 1974 Orrock has consistently been in the employ of Howard Hughes, Summa Corporation, and Howard Hughes Corporation. Orrock later earned his M.B.A. at UNLV. In this interview, Orrock focuses on Summerlin, the 22,000-acre, award-winning, master-planned community on the west side of the Las Vegas Valley. He discusses Summerlin’s physical layout, its history, its development, and its future. He specifically credits Summa Corporation’s early visionaries John Goolsby and Will Lummis for having the foresight to sell some of the company’s land in order to build the financial foundation that, in turn, permitted Summerlin’s fifty-year development plan. He also talks about the development and future of Downtown Summerlin; its balance of private, charter, and public schools; and the ways the company selects its residential builders.