Shira Stoll, a Multimedia Specialist for the Advance/SILive.com, is the filmmaker behind the "Where Life Leads You" documentary and the Staten Island Holocaust Survivor series.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- When the door opened, I saw Goldie, one of Staten Island's Holocaust survivors, standing in a pink-and-black suit with an intricately designed black fashion hat.
She had the biggest smile on her face.
"How was your day today?" I asked.
"Today was wonderful. I went to the JCC," she replied. "I'm a lifetime member."
As I was setting up in preparation for our interview, Goldie waited patiently, and kept a smile on her face the whole time.
Then we started. "So where were you from?"
And for the next hour and a half, she told me her heartbreaking story.
She lost her parents and siblings in Auschwitz. She was transferred to another concentration camp, Stutthof. And then there was her shocking account of her liberation, which she was so brave to tell.
"And that's my life story," she said in conclusion.
I asked to see some photos of her grandchildren. Her face lit up. "All my grandchildren call me every Friday," she said. "Friday I'm very busy."
She showed me a huge photo of her entire family, with all of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
And that compelling interview, which took place in January of this year, was not the last time I was in Goldie's company.
I presented her video testimony when she was honored in April at Young Israel of Staten Island, a synagogue in Willowbrook. Goldie and I also participated in a Q&A session together with Advance Executive Editor Brian Laline during the 2018 Woman of Achievement luncheon in April. And I met her again in June at the annual Cafe Europa event -- a celebration of Staten Island's Holocaust survivors -- at the Jewish Community Center on Manor Road.
Perhaps the most enthralling aspect of Goldie is her riveting, vibrant personality. And I will never forget the adorable love story she continues to embrace with her late husband, Heshy.
We invite you to watch Goldie’s story in the above video.