At Anne Frank ceremony, a Holocaust survivor's life serves as a history lesson

Holocaust survivor Rosalie Simon, 92, stood in front of the Anne Frank Memorial Garden on Friday, reading from a letter she had received.

“I want to apologize,” Simon read from the letter, her voice fragile but clear, tinted by an Eastern European accent. 

The letter was from a student whose grandmother was an immigrant from Germany and believed Adolf Hitler was trying to better their country and that much of the Holocaust did not happen.

“I feel guilty for believing my grandmother, and also I feel guilty that I’m related to such an ignorant person,” Simon read. “My family is directly responsible for what your family has been through.” 

Simon, of Floral Park, had spoken to this young girl at school and changed her perspective, she said. Now, she vows to speak at any school, synagogue or event that she can.

On Friday, it was at the annual Anne Frank Memorial Ceremony in Arboretum Park in Melville. The ceremony's date was set between Frank’s birthday, in June, and the date of her capture, in August.

About 70 people attended the ceremony under shady trees, some older veterans of World War II, some young members of the Jewish community.

Frank, who as a child hid with her family from the Nazis in Amsterdam, died at age 15, in 1945, in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. 

Simon said she finds purpose in passing down her story, from her captivity at the Auschwitz concentration camp to her liberation at the hands of American troops.

“I was amazed to get so many letters from the students of appreciation, and many of the letters showed me that they don’t have any knowledge of the Holocaust,” she said.

The theme of youth and education also was present in a speech by Rick Lewis, CEO of Suffolk Y Jewish Community Center, who is concerned that knowledge of the Holocaust is dwindling in young generations. 

“We decided it was time for us to reach students in engaging and meaningful ways for them to make connections to the past,” Lewis said. This led to the Y JCC adopting the Names, Not Numbers program two years ago.

Chloe Swartz, a rising junior at Kings Park High School, participated in the program, which tasks students to research and talk to a local Holocaust survivor and create documentaries about their findings, Lewis said.

Swartz, 16, researched Simon and introduced her at Friday’s ceremony.

“Rosalie was selected for the gas chambers twice, but she was saved by the kindness of others,” Swartz told those on hand. Simon immigrated to the United States when she was 18, where she has three children, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

“Rosalie's story not only inspired me, but taught me what raw resilience and strength look like,” Swartz said.

Simon focused on the impact she has had and will continue to have on youth.

"I continue speaking today and will speak as long as I'm able to, whenever I'm invited to speak, and that gives me great satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment," she said.