Survivors share heartbreaking stories during Holocaust Remembrance Day event
MIAMI - Somber moments as holocaust survivors and the community as they stood shoulder to shoulder at an Holocaust Remembrance Day event.
Anita Karl is a living testament to the horrors of the Holocaust.
"I knew hunger, I knew fear, and I knew hatred," survivor Anita Karl told the crowd at the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach.
She was one of just a few in her family who survived.
"Among the millions of Jews brutally murdered, all my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents perished. The only survivors against all odds were my mother and her three daughters," she said.
Living in a ghetto from the age of 3, a moment of agony is seared in her mind as she played with a cousin
"A German officer came by, looked at us, pulled out a bar of chocolate, and said, 'Who would like this piece of chocolate," she recounted.
Her cousin made it to the officer first.
"He picked her up, he gave with one hand the piece of chocolate, and with the other one he pulled out his revolver and shot her in her head," she recalled.
She, her mother, and her sisters survived by posing as Catholics.
As people remembered those lost and those who survived, they were also keenly aware of the hostages currently held by Hamas.
"We will not rest, we will pray for them, we will bring them home," one speaker vowed.
"These days, with the rise of anti-semitism, the rise of Jew hatred, it's more important than ever for the community to come together and take strength from one another, celebrate our resilience and make sure the words 'never again' are not just in history but have relevance and meaning for the future," said Greater Miami Jewish Federation President & CEO Jacob Solomon.