South Florida survivors share stories on International Holocaust Remembrance Day
MIAMI - On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Holocaust survivors in South Florida are sharing their stories of survival, resilience and hope to ensure the horrors of the past are never forgotten.
At his Bal Harbour home, 100-year-old Jack Waksal reflected on the unimaginable pain he endured during the Holocaust.
Pointing to a photo of his wife, he recalled her survival at Auschwitz.
"Sometimes I cannot sleep at night," Waksal said. "It goes over and over."
Waksal described the unimaginable atrocities he witnessed, including being forced to dig graves for mothers and children who were buried alive.
"They didn't even use a bullet. They threw them in the grave and you had to watch," he said.
Waksal lost his entire family during the Holocaust, including his father and brother. Sharing their photos, he spoke of their memory with reverence.
"He was such a guiding person to help people," Waksal said of his father.
Having survived four concentration camps, Waksal made a daring escape in September 1944, eventually moving to the United States in 1950.
Now, generations of the Waksal family thrive, a testament to resilience that he says would defy Adolf Hitler's imagination.
"Hitler would never believe that in life that would happen to Jewish people," he said.
Offering a message of unity and hope
Across town at Gulliver Preparatory School in Pinecrest, 90-year-old Allan Hall shared his survival story with an auditorium filled with students. Hall recounted how his family lived in hiding in Poland before he turned five, knowing that discovery would mean certain death.
"Every day, at any given moment, somebody could open the door and we were dead," Hall said. "And people risked their lives to save me."
For decades, Hall struggled to share his experiences but now finds strength in speaking to young audiences about the Holocaust.
Accompanied by his family, he offered a message of unity and hope.
"If we are loving to our neighbors, and they are loving to us, we can't do any better than that," he told the students.
The impact on the audience was profound.
"Keep on being a light for a bunch of people, even in a world of darkness," said junior Levi Mbadiwe.
"Let's not repeat it and watch out for evil," added sophomore Luiza Padoveze Goncalves. "Being as kind as possible and whenever you see someone not having a good time, reaching out."
For Hall, today's students are a source of optimism.
"Kids today, they are the hope of my life," he said.
More than 245,000 Holocaust survivors are still alive worldwide, with about 38,000 living in the United States and approximately 3,000 residing in South Florida.