COOPER CITY, Fla. — Hana Altarac, whose Jewish family, including her father and sister, died at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany, marked her 106th birthday on Jan. 31.
Altarac was 18 when she left her native Sarajevo with her husband and traveled to Italy, France, Algeria, and Canada. She eventually moved to the U.S. in 1966.
Altarac, who has three daughters, seven grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren, and 17 great-great-grandchildren, was a guest of honor on Wednesday.
“It brings me such joy to see all of our efforts help these survivors reach 100 with dignity, with family, and surrounded by celebration,” said Masha Pearl, the executive director of The Blue Card Fund, a nonprofit organization that helps survivors.
Altarac and Leon Schagrin — the author of “The Horse Adjutant: A Boy’s Life during the Nazi Holocaust” — were among the nearly 130 honored guests at an early celebration on Wednesday of Holocaust Survivor Day at Temple Beth Emet in Cooper City.
The global celebration to honor the resilience of the survivors of the state-sponsored genocide of six million Jewish people between 1933 and 1945 has been observed annually on June 4 since 2021.
Schagrin, who was born in Grybów, Poland, turned 99 on Oct. 30. His memoir describes how he was forced to spend his childhood in ghettos and concentration camps, including Tarnów, Szebnia, and Auschwitz III.
The Blue Card Fund and Goodman Jewish Family Services of Broward County, a social services organization based in Davie, organized a busy itinerary to honor them and their contributions at the temple at 4807 South Flamingo Road.
The itinerary included a Medal of Honor ceremony, an induction to the Centenarian Club with birthday cake, a performance by a student choir, and time for intergenerational dancing.
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