They went through the worst of humanity, the most evil power that can exist,” the New York City Council speaker told JNS, of survivors. “We need to retell those stories because we can honestly never forget.”
Julie Menin, the first Jewish speaker of the New York City Council, is very aware of her family’s experiences during the Holocaust.
Her mother and grandmother survived in Budapest, Hungary, by hiding in a cellar for over a year under constant fear and deprivation, and her grandfather was murdered in the Shoah.
Preserving testimonies of survivors is critical, as the population of those who experienced and witnessed the Holocaust ages, she said.
“There are stories. It’s so important that we continue them, because for the next generation, they might not be able to hear directly from the survivors,” she told JNS at a Holocaust Survivor Day event on Thursday that drew more than 40 Holocaust survivors at UJA-Federation of New York’s Manhattan headquarters.