There were emotional moments during Holocaust remembrance ceremony in Ybor City.
Sunday marked 68 years since the liberation of the Nazis’ most notorious death camp, and survivors came together to share their stories and honor those who didn’t make it out alive.
Music filled the banquet room at the Italian Club of Tampa. Singing along with the songs from the past, Mickey Quittner had a moment of remembrance. Although, the holocaust survivor has never needed a reminder.
“I was in a work camp, and thank God I am here.”
Quittner joined seven other survivors on the yearly memorial day for victims.
“I never said goodbye to my mom and my sister, not knowing that I would never see them again,” said Phil Gans, a survivor who spoke to the crowd.
It was the 68th anniversary of the liberation in 1945 of Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp where more than a million were killed. It’s a day that will always remind Rose Rosen of what freedom means to her.
“I do what I want, say what I want,” said Rosen, “we have enough to eat enough to drink.”
Rosen’s loved ones didn’t live long enough to see that liberation.
“I think a lot about my family,” she said, “my sister, her three children, they didn’t survive.”
Candles were lit in their honor, and 6 million other men women and children who lost their lives.
“I just praise God because he is the only one who was able to help,” said Quittner.
Quittner says he lived because he hid and used false identification.
“I had a little guts,” he said.
Remembering those who aren’t here today is why he says he’ll never forget.