Beth Israel Congregation in Vineland celebrates birthdays of 11 Holocaust survivors ahead of Rosh Hashanah
VINELAND, N.J. (CBS) --- In nearly two weeks, Jewish Americans from across the area will celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Eyewitness News reporter Ryan Hughes shows us how holocaust survivors are being celebrated before one of the holiest days of the year.
They are bonded through song and prayer and are the definition of resilience after surviving one of the darkest times in world history.
Inside the Beth Israel Congregation in Vineland before Rosh Hashanah, the birth of the Jewish New Year, the Jewish Family & Children's Service and the Jewish Federation of Cumberland County are celebrating the birthdays of 11 Holocaust survivors like Phyllis Dunkelman.
"It's changed my life that I lost people that I love," Dunkelman said.
Phyllis was only 9 years old when World War II began and German forces invaded Poland. She was sent to a Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz. Now at 92, she still vividly remembers those dark days and showed us her number tattooed on her forearm.
"I had an older sister," Dunkelman said. "She put lipstick on me in my younger days and made me look not like 9, but maybe 30 or 40."
Louis Goldman still has a photo of himself at a displaced persons camp in Germany. He was only 7 years old at the time. Louis lost his brother and sister during the war.
"We didn't know where we were going or what tomorrow will bring," Goldman said. "The things that happened to me when I was a child during the Holocaust, they still affect me today."
But on this day, it was a celebration of birth and of life.
As the number of living Holocaust survivors dwindles across the country, this group is making sure their stories are passed down to the next generation.
"Want to make sure that this is not forgotten," Dunkelman said.
"Know that we love you, admire you, and wish you good health and happiness today and everyday," Ronda Manders said.
