{"id":1275,"date":"2026-06-03T21:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=1275"},"modified":"2026-06-03T21:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:06:14","slug":"these-9-holocaust-survivors-reached-100-years-and-were-honored-for-what-they-endured","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=1275","title":{"rendered":"These 9 Holocaust survivors reached 100 years and were honored for what they endured"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In honor of Holocaust Survivor Day on June 4, roughly 130 Holocaust survivors gathered together in Cooper City.<\/p>\n

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But get this \u2013 among them, nine survivors are celebrating 100 or more years of life.<\/p>\n

For some, like Betty Eisdorfer, age is just a number. She’s 101 going on 102.<\/p>\n

But for others like Leon Schagrin, 100 years of age means so much more<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 100 years of history. 100 years of suffering,” he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very hard to get away from something that is with you for 100 years.”<\/p>\n

And 101-year-old Herman Haller feels the same way. He recalled an encounter he had with a Nazi guard during his time in Auschwitz. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he said to me, ‘What is your name?’ And in the moment, I wasn\u2019t thinking, and I said Herman Haller. And he said, \u2018What is your name?\u2019 And I realized my mistake, I should have said I am a prisoner, a Jew under protected custody, and my number is 72,554,” Herman said. “And he turns around and says, \u2018Follow me, I have to teach you to not forget your name.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Herman said that the guard put him in a room and told him to do 100 knee bends and count them aloud. When Herman got to 20, the guard said he could not hear him, and he had to start again. <\/p>\n

After Herman finished, the guard asked again for 100 and asked him to count backwards. When Herman used all of his strength to finish that task, he was told to do 10 pushups. Once he completed them, he was forced to do 10 more.<\/p>\n

Herman recalled he couldn\u2019t move his body anymore, and that\u2019s when the guard took out his gun and asked for 10 more pushups or threatened Herman would be shot. Herman completed the task and was allowed out of the room, where he found his friends outside waiting for him to report to work. Herman said he knew he couldn\u2019t report himself as sick, so his friends helped him.<\/p>\n

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Herman said they worked at a factory at the concentration camp that worked with spare parts. The workers were put into 100 columns in rows of five, and Herman was put in the middle by his friends to be able to support him in his frail state.<\/p>\n

Once at the factory, his friends stored him in a cabinet while they worked at night. Herman recalls hearing sliding doors open, and two Nazi guards who were supervising their work walked in. While they had a smoke break next to the cabinet he was inside, he remembered he could clearly hear the two talking, discussing how they saw the Jews burning in the distance because of the plumes of smoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad that I am alive, I got liberated by the American Army,” Herman said with a sad smile.<\/p>\n

He was taken to a Belgian hospital, where he was for a year. He had family in America, and while they were looking for him, he was looking for them. He said that they sent him papers, and he was able to come to Florida.<\/p>\n

Herman’s story is just one version of what so many others in the ballroom at Cooper City went through. But fewer every year get to share their story. This is why nine Holocaust survivors and centenarians were recognized and inducted into the Goodman Jewish Family Services Centenarian Club, so their remarkable stories and feats can live on in future generations.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the 2026 inductees, here are more details provided by the Goodman JFS of Broward County:<\/p>\n

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Leon Schagrin<\/strong><\/p>\n