Holocaust survivor Julius Eisenstein of Hallandale Beach was honored with tributes and love from his family, friends and the community on his recent 100th birthday.
Eisenstein was born on Oct. 13, 1919 in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland. He was in the Tomaszow Mazowiecki Ghetto from 1940-1943. In May of 1943, he was interned in the Blizyn Labor Camp and then until April 1945, he was in four other camps including Birkenau. On April 29, 1945 he was liberated from Dachau by the United States Army. He survived the Holocaust with his brother Jacob.
Eisenstein has made it his mission to preserve, protect and perpetuate the authentic memory and lessons of the Holocaust as he has shared his story publicly over the years, especially to high school and college students. He has made it his mission until his final breath to keep talking about the Holocaust so others will not forget. At his speaking engagements, Eisenstein always makes the statement: “You don’t have to like me, but why do you have to hate me?”
The Holocaust Documentation & Education Center in Dania Beach hosted a celebration of Eisenstein’s birthday with 127 people in attendance, including family, local survivors and teachers, as he is very involved with the institution and its programs, including speaking at its Student Awareness Days. This celebration included tributes, video and musical presentations by the David Posnack Jewish Day School’s music department in Davie.
During the event, Eisenstein asked his fellow Holocaust survivors in attendance to stand up as he told the younger audience members, “I want you to understand that a few years from now we will not be around here.”
“We are leaving it in your hands and for future generations to make sure that whatever happened to us does not happen again to anybody in this world,” he added.
Rositta E. Kenigsberg, HDEC’s president, said, “It’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate with Julius and let him know we appreciate everything he has done and accomplished as well as his impact.”
“Despite areas of his journey that were so painful and so horrific, the fact that he could be here and enjoy, laugh and smile with us is amazing. It’s a very easy moment and privilege to honor a man who is so incredible. He embodies inspiration and he exudes love and happiness. He’s always positive and that smile of his could light up the world every time he comes here,” Kenigsberg added.
Rabbi Robert P. Frazin, executive board member of HDEC and rabbi emeritus of Temple Solel in Hollywood, praised Eisenstein as an extraordinary man who forgets nothing during a tribute at the celebration.
After the war, Eisenstein lived in Munich until 1950 when he moved to New York. He owned and operated several businesses in Long Island before relocating to Florida. He married his late wife Phyllis in 1947, and together they had two children, Tobi and Fred. Phyllis died in 2017.
Fred Eisenstein, who attended his father’s birthday celebration, said that up until he located a U.S. solider named Joseph Frolio, a liberator of Dachau, with the aid of a reporter in the late 1980s, he was silent about his Holocaust experiences outside of the home like many survivors of the trauma they went through.
“It wasn’t until the ’80s when there was some renewed interest in Holocaust survivors and the Holocaust experience that I think my father started to sense it’s ok to speak about his experience, and then when he met Joe in 1988, they spoke together. ’88 was the turning point and that’s when he started to speak.”
Among the local educators at the celebration was Ivy Schamis, a Holocaust educator at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, who said, “Julius is an inspiration for everyone, especially our young people.”
“He went through the worst humanity has to offer and he lives his life as a model as to what we all need to be: kind and compassionate.”
Eisenstein’s centennial birthday was also celebrated by Goodman Jewish Family Services of Broward County in its office in Davie. The social service agency has assisted Holocaust survivors in Broward County for more than 54 years. Caregivers and caseworkers honored him with a cake and singing.
Jo Ann Arnowitz, Goodman JFS’ chief program officer and vice president of grants management, praised Eisenstein as an “amazing” inspiration to everyone.
“It’s our privilege and our honor at Goodman Jewish Family Services to be able to provide care for people like Julius at this point in their lives.”
