On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a small group of Holocaust survivors in Chicago gathered to share their stories and emphasize the importance of remembering the atrocities of the past.
On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, CBS News Chicago joined a poignant Coffee & Conservation series featuring a dwindling group of local Holocaust survivors. This weekly gathering, both in-person and virtual, brings together some of the last living witnesses to the horrors inflicted by the Nazis.
While each conversation holds significance, Monday marked a particularly solemn occasion, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in occupied Poland.Aron Blumenstein, who will celebrate his 100th birthday in June, was just 14 when the war erupted. He vividly recalls the events: 'I remember everything,' Blumenstein shared. 'They took us to Auschwitz to get killed.' Transported to Auschwitz in 1943, Blumenstein recounted the incredible act of kindness from a neighbor from his Warsaw home. This neighbor, recognizing Blumenstein on the train, shielded him from the guards and ultimately aided his escape to another camp. 'He recognized me right on the train,' Blumenstein said. 'He took me down on the train and put me to his back.'Gdalina Lin Novitsky, only 3 years old when the Nazis seized her home in Kyiv, Ukraine, and her mother fled on a cattle train frequently targeted by German bombs. 'Cars were put on fire and human bodies and parts of human bodies were scattered everywhere,' Novitsky described. Now, Novitsky actively engages with school groups, determined to ensure remembrance. 'Not to forget, and to prevent these atrocities in the future,' she emphasizes. 'That's why I'm talking.' Every year on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the group publicly supports the #WeRemember campaign by the World Jewish Congress. 'I hope they remember they remember that Holocaust was real, that Holocaust happened,' Novitsky said. Despite the dwindling number of survivors, their voices remain resolute, echoing their unwavering commitment to prevent history from repeating itself. 'We survivors don't want out past to become your future, so we talk about this,' Novitsky stated
Remembrance HOLOCAUST AUSCHWITZ SURVIVORS REMEMBRANCE INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY
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