BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Several survivors and their families gathered at the Temple Beth Zion in Buffalo to commemorate the six million Jews and five million others who horrifically perished in the Holocaust during World War II.
85-year-old Viola Sterman who’s a Holocaust survivor shares her story with 7 News reporter Yoselin Person.
“Well I was a very young kid at the time of the second world war,” Sterman says. “And of course Nazi’s who wanted to take over the world, and some people may think it didn’t happen, and that’s why we’re continuing to make sure by celebrating it every year that everybody knows about what happened.”
Sterman is from Budapest, Hungary.
She was one of the survivors liberated by the Americans and Soviet Union while 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.
“My pride is that my family and kids and grandchildren understand what happened, and they’re going to not fight, but make sure it’s not forgotten ever,” she says.
Now, she’s passing her torch to the next generation.
“We have less and less opportunities to speak to the people that can speak through it, and the fact that we have my mom who survived and can speak to it is so important,” says Bruce Karpati, Viola Sterman’s son. “And meaningful especially today where we’re losing more and more survivors from that time.”
Lauren Bloomberg is a third-generation Holocaust survivor.
She’s part of a descendants group that meets monthly to educate the public about the Holocaust.
“And I personally right now am working on my story so that I can continue sharing my family's legacy and tell my story to the world,” Bloomberg says.
Many at the Temple Beth Zion are hoping the world won’t ever forget the Holocaust.
“And for us and for the rest of the world that some crazy man gets into the position and unfortunately today’s antisemitism to me is a scary thing,” Viola Sterman says. “Because I know what it is and should be scary for anybody that’s living right now.”
