Auschwitz was liberated 80 years ago, Jan. 27, 1945
Ten years ago we could do what we cannot do now. Ten years ago we could publish the death of Rabbi Israel Rosenfeld, one day short of the 70th anniversary of his liberation from Auschwitz, and two days short of his father’s death there.
Now it is 80 years.
Now it is loneliness by an echo.
Direct contact with survivors of Auschwitz has thinned almost to the vanishing point. Their echo is the best we can cherish.
For some of us, their names echo memories, personal memories, of encounters, relationships, teachings, conversations, silences. Their names trigger recollections of of life — only for some of us.
For others among us, their names are letters on a page. Mere names. Nothing more. Parts of a list. “Survivors.” Faint echoes, if that.
No more do survivors of Auschwitz populate our community, our gatherings, our simchas, our funerals, our synagogues and workplaces.
No more do the anguished, beyond-passionate debates as to how commemorate the Holocaust echo through our midst. With the rarest of exceptions, none of the commemorators is still with us.
The IJN lists on this page the survivors of Auschwitz who once were so much with us, but who now are but echoes. Those survivors not on the list are, blessedly, still with us. Oscar Singer. Cantor Kutner. Jack Adler. This is one instance in which we hope we have unintentionally omitted names. Please, survivors of Auschwitz who are still with us, correct us!
We list this community’s survivors of Auschwitz because January 27 is the date that the world has chosen to commemorate the Holocaust. It is the date that the Soviets liberated Auschwitz — that unspeakable word — the largest of the factories of death that only Nazi perversity could devise.
We list these survivors, at a minimum in order to commemorate; at a maximum, in order to re-amplify their echo in our memory. On this, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, we are painfully aware that some day in the future all of these names will merely be commemorated; there will be no echo of their living presence in any living person. For everyone, they will be mere names on a list.
We are equally aware that while Auschwitz was the largest Nazi death factory it was far from the only one; that survivors of other camps, and survivors via other means, such as by hiding, equally trigger recollections of their presence in our community.
The full list of survivors of the Holocaust who found their home in Denver after WW II is gathered and printed in the IJN’s 105th anniversary magazine, June 25, 2018.
The more limited list of the survivors of Auschwitz —many of whom we recollect personally, more of whom we portrayed over the decades — include:
Rabbi Israel Rosenfeld, Helen Wildfeuer, Harry Glazer, Beni Sterczewski, Fred Englard, Helen Englard, Charles Schwartz, Sara Schwartz, Joe Schwartz, Tauba Barnibel, Abe Berneman, Guta Berneman, Leon Berneman, Ray Radford, Lily Radford, Lili Blumenstein, Pearl Gorden, Sara Goldberg, Jack Finkelstein, Andre Mark, Sruly Stuhl, Ann Susel, Helen Fireman, Sam Fireman, Nathan Hauptman, Sarah Hauptman, Emil Hecht, Eva Hecht, Marton Tesler, Margaret Hochstadt, Alex Rezmovits, Mike Resmo (Rezmovits), Sara Zuchowicki, Marton Ziegler, Bella Zicherman, Bella Wier, Isaak Wier, Jack Welner, Jake Prince, Esther Pollack, Fred Hoffman, Paul Holz, Abe Jacobs, Betty Jacobs, Aranka Jonap, Moyshe Perey, Walter Plywaski, Victor King, Arnold Klein, David Bram, David Rozenholc, Riva Weissbrot, Fay Finkelstein, Joe Rubenstein, Sani Farkas, Irene Melamed, Steven Metzler, Marian Miklin, Ruth Milstein, Halina Kronenberg, Carl Licholat, Lili Susser, Rywka Weizman, Max Weizman, Manny Weizman, Max Rotbart, Bernie Sayone, Irving Schaffer, Yaakov Schneider, Margarit Schneider, Zesa Starr, Fanny Starr, Mary Altman, Elizabeth Auslander, Ruth Shapiro.
Many wish to forget. The word “remember” in its various forms is found in the Hebrew Bible more than in any other scripture. It is natural for Jews to remember. To sustain the memories of events 80 years ago, 80 eternities ago, is an uphill battle. Jews who remember that they are Jews will always remember our history. They will always be equipped to remind others.
Many in this world wish to distort. Perhaps there is no greater desecration of the Holocaust than to regard the actions of Jews today, particularly in Israel, as but a variation on the Holocaust. For this, Jews will need more than their natural acquaintance with memory to set the record straight — the record of 1939-1945, and the post-Oct. 7 record of today.
© IJN 2025
