“Never forget” is a term we often say when commemorating the Holocaust. Gurwin Jewish Nursing and Rehabilitation made sure to drive that message home during their candlelight vigil on Jan. 26 in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Cilia Borenstein’s Story
Gurwin is home to several Holocaust survivors. One of them, Cilia Borenstein, is a survivor of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, sat down with the Press.
Borenstein, 97, was born in Radom, Poland.
“We were very poor,” Borenstein said, with a smile. “But I didn’t feel that way. I had a lot of family, my father and my uncles, who supported us. My mother was an angel.”
Radom was taken by Nazi Germany in 1939, and became the capitol of occupied Poland’s Radom District until its liberation in 1945. Borenstein was the lone survivor of her family, but in a true embodiment of “Never Forget,” she maintains they are all still with her.
“I really don’t sleep, because I see them day and night,” Borenstein said. “Every second, I see them. How they cried, how they knew that they would not survive.”
Borenstein recalls working at the camp as guns that were “as big as her” were pointed at her and other prisoners by German soldiers. What kept her going was her love for humanity and love for God.
“God said to me, ‘You will be ok,'” Borenstein said. “I tell everyone that my love for people and seeing the good in everybody helped me survive too.”
Borenstein came to the United States, and became a citizen in 1954. Despite what she endured, she calls the United States “heaven-on-earth,” and is grateful for her husband, Sydney Borenstein, son Mark, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
“I asked God to see the next generation, and I did,” Borenstein said.
Candlelight Ceremony
Borenstein and the other survivors lit candles in a special ceremony of Holocaust remembrance, which was then lead out by song and prayer by Rabbi Israel Rimler of the Gurwin Healthcare System.
“In the world of antisemitism, in the world where there’s still hatred, in a world where Israel is being attacked by its enemies, and so many seek our destruction, we still ask the question: What is never again?” Rimler said. “But as I watch what’s going on here, and I hear your stories, I’m humbled by you, survivors.”
The Holocaust Survivors At Gurwin
The Holocaust survivors who reside at Gurwin:
- Esther Kusthoff
- Ellen Moffat
- Helen Sherman
- Rebecca Weiss
- Yvonne Fitzner
- Cilia Borenstein
- Kurt Pauly
- Jill Pauly
- Frank Siegel
- Rucella Wisznic
- Cecile Miller
- Celina Kohn
- Margo Hahn
