JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Monday marks 75 years since one of the most infamous sites of the Holocaust was liberated.
Over a million people were killed at Auschwitz Concentration Camp and thousands more were forced onto a death march just before allied forces arrived. It’s among the subjects at a new gallery opening in Jacksonville remembering those lost and how survivors made it through.
Life in a land of death. The survivors' stories from Auschwitz are part of a display at Jewish Family and Community services, showing humanity in its basic form.
“Stories of hope and courage, of survival, of friendship, of how they were able to live out their faith despite being threatened with murder,” JFCS Director of Marketing and Communications Ryan Allison said.
The accounts are from women who lived after liberation and tell how they hid who they were, their traditions and customs while in camps.
JFCS works with Holocaust survivors, many well into their mid-80s. Some were willing to share their accounts with visitors to the gallery – making sure no one forgets the atrocities of the Holocaust.
Allison explained the day serves as a lesson that can keep teaching into the future.
“Develop tools to tolerate, learn tolerance and love for all of humanity,” Allison said.
The free gallery opens to the public Jan. 28.