They were always there- at school plays, birthday parties, sitting amongst us in the audience at Yom Hashoah memorials. They were in our homes, telling us to finish every last drop of food on our plates, to be careful everytime we left the house. As a child, on trips to Israel, I’d see them casually waiting with young teenagers at bus stops, both tattooed on their arms, but for different reasons,… 

We took it for granted- after what they lived through, we thought they were immortal, that they’d always be there. After all, as my mother always said “to survive the Holocaust, you had to be made of something different.” It is true, they were superhuman.

Shortly before my Bubbie passed away, I remember her saying “By the year 2025, there will be very few survivors left.” Now, I recall those words everytime there is a survivor in my presence.  I make a point to bring my children over, introduce them, and have them shake hands in an attempt to forge a bond that will forever remain, even once they are gone.  

Who ever  thought we’d be living in a time where the term ‘survivor’ has taken on a new meaning? Shortly after October 7th, when a friend of mine told her children she was interviewing a survivor for a work project, their response was “a Nova survivor or Holocaust survivor?” I can be sure survivors of the Holocaust never imagined there’d be another kind of ‘survivor’........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)