Betty Migdol, holding a photo of Holocaust survivorsJanuary 27 was Holocaust Remembrance Day, and 76 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, #WeRemember the millions of lives lost in the Holocaust and recommit to fighting hate and intolerance everywhere.
We remember, with respect, the victims of the Holocaust and take the time to reflect on the depths that humanity can sink to, but also the ways that individuals and communities resisted that darkness, before, during, and after this tragedy.
Yonkers’ resident and Holocaust survivor Betty Migdol, who was recognized by City Council President Mike Khader and the entire City Council in 2018, shared her story once again, with the Council President and his staff.
“After the Holocaust, I was left without parents, a home, or any money. I didn’t know what I was going to do. Then my cousins, who also survived, said to me that the Americans were setting up Displaced Persons Camps in Germany and they are going to it. I asked if they would take me too and they did. They supported me both emotionally and financially until we got to the Americans. Here I am in the picture of us in the DP camp. Today I have 2 daughters, 5 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren. I went through an unthinkable period in my life and came out stronger than anyone should have to be. Now I’m blessed to have a beautiful family and a great life here in Yonkers.”
Betty Migdol has been a Yonkers resident since 1970. Migdol was born Dec. 19,1927, the third of six children, to a religious and poor family in Ruscova, Romania, a small town in the Carpathian Mountains. In 1944, when she was 16, the Hungarians who had moved into her town rounded up all the Jews and sent them first to a ghetto and then on transport trains to the Auschwitz death camp. After six months at Auschwitz, she was sent to a slave labor camp.
When the war ended in 1945, Migdol fled from the Russian soldiers who were cruel to young girls, and was able to make her way home, where in Ruscova, she found out that any other family members who were sent to concentration camps died.
In 1947, she was able to cross the Atlantic Ocean to come to New York, where her new life began. A few weeks later she met Harry Migdol and they married in 1949, had two daughters, and owned a business. Incredibly, she put the horrors of her teenage years behind her, and kept her love for the Jewish religion. Migdol has long been a member and supporter of Chabad of Yonkers.
“We have learned so much from Betty and continue to learn from her strong and deep respect that she has for Judaism,” said Rabbi Mendy Huwitz of the Greyston Jewish Center Chabad of Yonkers. “As Betty continues to be a proud, strong Jew, we want to give this opportunity to every Jew – no matter of their level of observance – that they, too, can be victorious over the Holocaust.”