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Holocaust Survivor Ruth Lansing Celebrates 104
Holocaust Survivor Ruth Lansing Celebrates 104 Years!
BY VILONA TRACHTENBERG
Representatives from Holocaust Resource Center of Buffalo (HRC) and Jewish Family Services of WNY (JFS) had the pleasure of celebrating local Holocaust survivor Ruth Lansing’s 104th birthday in November! Lauren Bloomberg, Director of Engagement for HRC, and Sara Mintz, Jewish community Case Worker at JFS, surprised Ruth with balloons, flowers, and a birthday hat, all to celebrate this special woman.
Lauren Bloomberg and Sara Mintz celebrate with Ruth Lansing
Sara’s excitement to celebrate Ruth’s birthday was all she could think about that whole week. As a descendant of Holocaust survivors herself, it is very important for her to know about the Holocaust, her family’s history, and celebrate our local survivors. “My favorite moment of celebrating Ruth’s birthday was when she told me and Lauren how despite the first half of her life being hard, it’s been a long, good life,” Sara said. “I thought that was a beautiful way to look at life, that despite the hardships, her life was still a good one.”
Ruth survived Kristallnacht, “Night of Broken Glass,” where in November of 1938, Nazis torched and vandalized thousands of Jewish-owned businesses and synagogues and killed 100 Jews. Ruth also survived deportation to concentration camps, and was able to escape to England through help from her cousin. She was also a translator during the Nuremberg trials.
“It is important to talk with and celebrate our local Holocaust survivors because they deserve to be remembered,” Sara said. “They have experienced so much, and just being able to sit, listen, and talk with them is so very important. This is part of the reason I do the work I do; I want to be able to help my own community in any way that I can.”
Vilona Trachtenberg works in distribution at New Era Cap and is a freelance writer and community advocate. She was also awarded an ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award through Buffalo Niagara Partnership in 2022.
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Kadimah Scholars at Park is the best of both worlds, bringing a Jewish day school education to one of the region’s oldest independent private schools. It combines the 63-year-old tradition of Kadimah Academy with the century-old progressive tradition of Park.
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