VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — There were 6 million people that perished in the holocaust between 1933 and 1945.
It's been 78 years since the liberation of Auschwitz; still, some people worry history is already being repeated.
For years, many survivors and relatives have advocated for a stop to antisemitism, reliving the horror of Hilter's final solution through storytelling.
As a Virginia Beach Rabbi, Israel Zoberman says he’s had to answer many questions about why the holocaust became part of the history books.
You can watch this 2 part series in the video players below.
Part 1
Part 2
“On the one hand, you wonder 'Where were you God?' on the other hand, you cannot abandon God, but the question is, 'Where was man?” said Zoberman.
Inside the Virginia Holocaust Museum, are many accounts of what can happen when hate is tolerated, but behind this barbed wire are more than just stories. There are lessons that need to continue to be learned.
For many years, Rabbi Israel Zoberman has made Hampton Roads his home, but his family's story of survival started hundreds of miles away in the heart of Europe.
His parents were Polish Holocaust survivors and post-war refugees.
From 1947-1949, Rabbi Zoberman's family lived in a DP camp in Wetzla, Germany.
World War II had recently ended and many Jewish families were starting over. The majority of them lost their belongings, homes, and family members, but Rabbi Zoberman says one thing was for certain, “we were safe in the DP camps."
Before Rabbi Zoberman was born, his father went to school in Warsaw.
At the time, the Nazis had occupied Poland, and shortly after, a rumor about Hitler's final solution spread. Rabbi Zoberman says his father wasn't believed until his grandmother confronted a German officer.
“My grandma Rachel, she looked German, beautiful blonde, she engaged a German officer in perfect German, and said 'My son came from Warsaw distraught -- he tells us you're going to hurt us soon' and the German officer said to her 'We are not hurting you now, but those who will follow us' the other troops may not be so nice,” explained Zoberman.
“My mom was born a fighter. It’s incredible the strength she had to continue to move from place to place for us to live,” says Zoberman.
Before boarding the plane home, Rabbi Zoberman says he packed up a valuable possession of his mother's.
“I brought home her story of her community, Sarny in Ukraine, that was destroyed by the Nazis, this contains a powerful and painful legacy towards the end,” says Zoberman, who then presented the gift to his son.
“We are the witnesses to history and anyone who hears our story becomes a witness, too,” says Zoberman.
