PHOENIX — Jerry Gutman sits, looking at photos of his mother and father on their wedding day. Rose is in a wedding dress, and his father, Irving, is dressed in a suit. The newlyweds are sitting next to each other and are surrounded by those they cherish most.
It's a joyous occasion, but Gutman can't help but think about the gruesome pain his parents had to endure to get to that happy milestone.
"My mom would never tell any stories of what took place until my father passed away in May of 1997," said Gutman. "My father, however, did tell stories. He shared stories that were very moving. You can't not listen and have some disappointment and be horrified of the things that took place."
Rose and Irving were two of about 1.3 million people taken to Auschwitz, the largest and deadliest concentration camp during the Holocaust. It's also estimated about 1.1 million people there were killed.
The numbers are staggering and unbelievable. With few survivors left, Gutman is making it his mission to collect and share the emotional and heartbreaking stories of those who lived through this historical time with a new website called OurHolocaustStory.com.
"I think we live in a society where people are afraid to share stories, regretfully, sadly," he said. "But we need to tell these stories because history is what we are. If we don't have history, we have nothing."
Gutman said his mother, Rose, was about 13 years old when she was taken to Auschwitz, and his father was about 25. The two didn't know each other, but each had harrowing stories of survival, courage and bravery.
"My mom's job was to remove teeth from dead bodies coming down a conveyor belt," he said. "My father escaped Auschwitz. He crawled under a fence. He found a hole, and he escaped, and he hid for a number of months, I think six months or eight months, and he went, and he fought with the Russians against the Germans."
Gutman's mother and father met after Auschwitz, in a DPW camp or Displaced Prisoner of War camp. They married and had their first son there before they were able to come to the United States. Gutman said he lost nine aunts and uncles during the war and that only one uncle survived.
"Their lives were taken away from them," he said. "Their families were dairy farmers, and they would trade eggs for services. They would trade milk and help other people in the community. And it was all because they were Jewish."
For the past two years, Gutman has worked on the website and recently launched it to the public. On it, he tells in more detail his parent's harrowing story. He also includes documents, pictures, videos, and audio of his parents telling their stories.
More importantly, though, there's a section where people can share their family's story.
"I don't want people to forget," he said. "I want them to share it with others and not forget this took place, so maybe one day, it won't happen again."
If you'd like to contribute, you can go to OurHolocaustStory.com.
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