JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
Holocaust Rememberance Day 2022
In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Joseph Rotstein, Jewish Federation of Charleston member, gave a presentation to honor the survivors as well as the victims of the Holocaust at the base theater on Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, May 2, 2022.
Rotstein, whose parents were Holocaust survivors, shed light on the many tragedies suffered by the six million Jewish and five million non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
“It’s unbelievable to think my father had an entire family before the Holocaust,” said Rotstein. “He came home one day and everyone he loved had just disappeared.”
Rotstein’s presentation included photos that took place throughout the Holocaust. Some of the photos showed the barracks women lived in at Auschwitz, gas chambers disguised as showers and the ghetto that many Jews were forced to relocate to.
He explained it was common for entire families to disappear in the Nazis’ effort to “liquidate” the ghettos to reduce the amount of people living in those areas. They were then relocated to concentration camps, or would otherwise be taken for execution.
“I’m so honored to be able to bring all these people together in an effort to honor those who survived and those who didn’t during the Holocaust,” Staff Sgt. Attley Hursey, 628th Medical Group Family Health NCO in charge and main orchestrator for the event.
According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored prosecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.
“The most important thing is as long as you have your family, friends, and those you care about, you’ll be able to rebuild and heal from catastrophe,” concluded Rotstein.
Rotstein’s presentation was a prime example of resilience as well as surrounding yourself with those who care, even in tragic conditions.