CC-BY 3.0, JAN ARKESTEIJIN, Otto Frank, as seen in 1961, the only survivor of his family. After discovering the diary of his daughter, Anne Frank, he worked tirelessly to spread the ideas and truth of what the Jewish had to endure amidst the Holocaust.
Survivors of the Holocaust
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Many have perished in the grueling horrors of the Holocaust. Although some escaped death to continue their lives elsewhere, telling their stories of struggle, hope and survival. Regardless of where they have come from, here’s a compiled list of some notable survivors of the Holocaust.
Otto Frank (1889-1980): Commonly known as the father of Anne Frank, he published her diary years after being liberated from Auschwitz on Jan. 27, 1945. Frank’s family perished in the Holocaust despite his best efforts to locate any survivors. After the death of his family was confirmed in 1945, he received the manuscripts of his daughter’s diary which he pushed to get published to spread awareness of the suffering the Jewish had to face. Frank remarried and spent the rest of his life spreading the ideals that his daughter expressed within her diary.
Elly Gotz (1928-present): When the Holocaust began in 1933, Gotz was still a young boy living in Lithuania with his family. Living in an underground bunker to evade capture by the Nazis, Gotz spent most of his childhood living in fear amidst the Holocaust. His family eventually surrendered in 1944, leading to Gotz and his father being sent to the Dachau concentration camp. After the end of World War II, Gotz and his family fled Germany. Gotz eventually moved to Johannesburg to continue his education and pursue his dream of becoming a pilot. He achieved his goal of gaining a higher education while establishing several businesses and marrying Esme Cohen in 1958. Gotz, along with the Azrieli Foundations’s 2018 Holocaust Survivors Memoirs Program, taught about the history of the Holocaust through his memoir, Flights of Spirit.
Irene Lieblich (1923-2008): Lieblich had survived the Holocaust yet does not speak of her experiences enduring it. Instead, Lieblich aims to capture the spirits of those who perished in the Holocaust through art and history. She married Jakob Lieblich in 1946, eventually having two children. Lieblich wrote poetry for Jewish magazines and newspapers after settling with her family in Brooklyn, New York. Afterwards, she took up painting and began creating depictions of Jewish people during World War II. Lieblich’s illustrations and work have won several awards, being featured at exhibits. Lieblich has worked with author Isaac Bashevis Singer, illustrating for several of his books. Lieblich passed away in 2008, though some of her work continues to be displayed for the public to view.
