A new ABC7 documentary, “Survive: Stories from the Holocaust,” brings this spring’s Yom HaShoah observances on the Suncoast into focus. Directed and edited by Benjamin Edelman, the film follows the April 13, 2026 commemorations, including at Temple Emanu-El, where more than 300 yellow candles were distributed with the names of children killed in the Holocaust written on them. Rabbi Brenner J. Glickman described how congregants adopted those children, individuals who never had descendants to remember them.
Survivors Helga, from Berlin, and Marcel, from Vichy France, share firsthand accounts of deportation, loss, and survival. Their stories are paired with community events across the region: the “6 Million Steps” walk in St. Petersburg with education stations on resistance and rescue, tree plantings and poetry readings at Community Day School, and performances of recovered music by persecuted Jewish composers.
The documentary matters because the survivor generation is aging, and firsthand testimony is becoming rarer with each passing year. For local audiences, the power is proximity: these events happened here, in our temples, schools, and streets. As Rabbi Glickman put it, if humans are capable of the darkest evil, it could happen again.
Have you watched the film yet? What do you think is the best way to keep this history alive for younger generations on the Suncoast?
