Liberation
By Ettie Zilber and Kim Klett
Feb 2023 Imagining the moment of ‘liberation” might conjure up visions of people dancing in the streets or toasting with champagne. That was the media version of V-E Day, but it was certainly NOTthe picture of the state of liberation for Jewish Holocaust survivors. Most survivors were barely alive. And many who survived to see their liberators died in the days, weeks, and monthsthereafter of starvation, overeating, injuries, disease and exhaustion. Every survivor vividly remembers the moments leading up to the long-awaited dream of liberation from bondage, slavery, exile, starvation, abuse, and the fear of murderous extinction. Many even described their experiences in oral, video, or written testimonies. But there was no ONE event of liberation, as there was …