Cedarbrook students visited by 93-year-old Holocaust survivor and Elkins Park resident

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January 29th, 2024 | By Ryan Genova

In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which was held this year on Saturday, January 27, Cedarbrook Middle School students were visited last week by Elkins Park resident and 93-year-old Holocaust survivor Renate “Ronnie” Breslow.

Formerly known as Renate Reutlinger, she was born in Kircheim, Germany and “lived a normal life
with her parents, who owned and operated a dry goods store located below their home. Ronnie collected stamps throughout her childhood, many of which were gifts from her Uncle Willie,” her biography at the Holocaust Awareness Museum and Education Center says.

Breslow was eight when she tried to escape Nazi Germany by boarding the SS St. Louis with her mother, Elly Reutlinger, in May 1939. Because of global antisemitism’s rise during that era, the boat had nowhere to dock, including ports in the United States.

“No port wanted to take the Jews in and we purchased legal landing certificates to get legally into Cuba. And still, the Cuban government didn’t let us enter,” Breslow told the students, as quoted by KYW Newsradio’s coverage. “All of the passengers were in a position to earn their own living. We wouldn’t be a drag on the country, but we were Jews.”

Courtesy of the Holocaust Awareness Museum and Education Center

The ship carrying nearly 1,000 Jewish refugees was forced to return to Europe after a month. Many of the passengers were eventually murdered by the Nazis for escape attempts, KYW said.

Breslow and her mother were then taken to a Dutch detention camp, and eventually found a boat to New York.

Sophie Don, a 2010 Cheltenham High School graduate, was also featured in KYW’s coverage. Regarding the world’s Jewish population, she said it has taken until now to reach pre-Holocaust numbers.

“Before 1933, before the Holocaust began, and before Hitler’s rise to power, there were about 15.7 million Jewish people worldwide,” Don said, “and this past year, in 2023, is when the world’s Jewish population was estimated again at 15.7 million.”

For the full story, you can click here. For more on Breslow, you can visit her website or listen to her speaking to Neshaminy students below:

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Photo: Renatereutlinger-stlouis.com