Queens Holocaust survivors mark 75th Anniversary of Auschwitz liberation

A group of Holocaust survivors from Queens pose before the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz Commemoration ceremony with a freight car used to transport victims to the camp. Photo by John Halpern.

By Rachel Vick

A group of Holocaust survivors from Queens attended the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz Commemoration ceremony at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, co-sponsored by the UJA-Federation of New York.

The Queens residents, originally from Poland and the former Soviet Union, were among nearly 100 survivors from across New York City who attended the commemoration.

The event began with the sounding of a shofar, a ceremonial horn that had been snuck into the camp during the Holocaust, and centered around a live broadcast from the ceremony on the grounds of Auschwitz, Poland.