Cooper City Honors Nine Holocaust Survivor Centenarians on Survivor Day, June 4, 2026
On Holocaust Survivor Day, June 4, 2026, a gathering in Cooper City, Florida brought together more than 130 survivors who shared a common past and a common hope for the future. Among the attendees, nine individuals stood out – one hundred years young – and were recognized for their extraordinary lives of perseverance and remembrance.
Standing at the center of the ceremony, the Goodman Jewish Family Services Centenarian Club inductees were introduced one by one. Betty Eisdorfer, from Rulzheim, Germany, relayed her early escape to the UK on the Kindertransport and her subsequent nursing career in the United States. Leon Schagrin, who spent his youth in Tarnów, Slovakia, and Buchenwald, reflected on the weight of a century’s memory, describing it as “100 years of history, 100 years of suffering.”
Herman Haller, born in Berlin, recounted the brutal work he endured in Auschwitz and the humiliating forced exercises that left him near death. His story included a moment of apology at the camp’s gates, showing how his identity as a Jew was demanded in the way he was treated. Herman’s survival followed a death march, liberation by American forces, and years spent rebuilding a life in America, where he worked in factories and later became an active community member.
Saul Dreier, a newborn in Krakow, kept his voice alive through music. He founded a Holocaust Survivor Band in 2014 and, at the age of 100, has performed worldwide, using concerts as a means to convey the importance of remembrance.
Other centenarian honorees included Liliana Ferber, a survivor who survived the ghetto by blending in and later became a dental nurse in the U.S.; Rosa Lindenberg, who ghosted the Kristallnacht and survived the Kindertransport in England before establishing a life in Florida; David Elefant, whose journey spanned Romania, Israel, and the U.S.; Frances Gaspar, a memoir writer who chronicled family loss in the Budapest Ghetto; and Hana Altarac, who escaped from Yugoslavia to France to Algeria, later moving to the U.S. with a large family.
The event, coordinated with the UJA-Federation and fostered by the Goodman Jewish Family Services, underscored the ongoing need to preserve survivor testimony. Washington-based council member Julie Menin highlighted the duty to retell these stories, noting that the next generation may never meet survivors in person. UJA’s CEO Eric Goldstein reiterated that remembrance is both a celebration and a warning, a reminder of the extraordinary resilience of the survivor community.
Beyond honoring these nine remarkable individuals, the ceremony served as a communal reminder. Speakers spoke of enduring hope, the significance of community support for survivors still living in poverty, and the necessity to combat rising antisemitism. The event drew a broad audience of survivors, families, and community members who shared stories and reaffirmed the collective effort to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive and relevant.
