Survivors Among Us Preserves Stories of Local Holocaust Survivors

An exhibit featuring the stories of Westchester’s Holocaust survivors drew a packed room at Scarsdale Library on Thursday night October 1, 2026. The exhibit, entitled “Survivor’s Among Us” highlights the personal histories of some of the last living survivors of the Holocaust shown on large banners and narrated with oral histories. Now in their late nineties – and even early years of the next century, survivors are a quickly vanishing group, and the exhibit was timed to share these life stories before it’s too late.

The exhibit is a collaboration between the Scarsdale Library, the Friends of Scarsdale Library and Westchester Jewish Family Services, and it is just the first event in a month long series of programming on the holocaust. See below for a list of upcoming events.

Library Director Beth Bermel credited Scarsdale’s Toby Milstin Schulman for bringing the exhibit to Scarsdale. She told Bermel, “We needed to bring this exhibit to the library sooner than later!”

Milstein noted that antisemitism is again on the rise. She said, “We are living in a moment where Jewish creatives have found themselves excluded, where Holocaust history is not taught or distorted…..When a public institution says Jewish voices belong here – that matters.” The exhibit “allows us to see holocaust survivors as not just survivors but as members of our community. ….they provided oral histories because they understand how important it is that we know these stories…. Their voices don’t have to disappear. The responsibility for carrying it forward now belongs to us…. May we listen, may we remember and may we carry these stories forward.”

Scott Bojer from WJCS said, “Each banner tells a different story – of survival, loss and rebuilding…. What can happen after the darkest moments of a person life? This is important at a time when antisemitism is again in our lives.”

He explained, “Scarsdale is the exhibition’s first stop – and it will travel – next stop the JCC Mid-Westchester…. These are deeply personal stories. The stories belong among us.”
Daniela Retelny, Daniela Hutter, Lisa Tobias-Hutter, Toby Milstein, Cynthia Samwick
The main attraction of the evening was survivor Lisa Tobais Hutter who told the story of her families journey to survive the Holocaust. She was just five years old when she was separated from her parents and her brother and moved in with another family who did their best to make her feel like part of the family, even registering her in school. When things got more dangerous they moved into a barn in a remote location in France with three families. Their fathers worked in the resistance.

Hutter credits the non-Jews with risking their own lives to save the Jewish families, saying, “It is impossible to overestimate the risk that this French family took for us…. even in the most dangerous times, some people don’t lose their convictions. It took a Village to save a child. Thanks to the family who welcomed us in 1939 we survived the war.”

Asked what messages she took away from the experience, Hutter said, “Cherish life, cherish family and be kind. Never take a single day for granted.”

Commenting on the event, Cynthia Samwick said:

As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, last night’s opening of Survivors Among Us at the Scarsdale Public Library was an especially meaningful evening for me and, I believe, for our entire community.

The Scott Room was packed as we listened to Holocaust survivor Lisa Tobias-Hutte share her story. Her words touched all of our hearts. I am so grateful for her courage, strength, and commitment to sharing her story with us. There is something profound about hearing history from someone who lived it, and Lisa reminded us why these stories must continue to be told.

We listened, we learned, and we remembered. Most importantly, we were reminded that the stories of local Holocaust survivors are not simply stories from the past. They are part of our community’s history, and it is our responsibility to make sure they continue to be heard by the generations that follow.

A heartfelt thank you to Toby Milstein Schulman for her extraordinary vision, dedication and commitment to bringing this important program to Scarsdale, and to Westchester Jewish Community Services for helping make it possible.

And enormous appreciation to Beth Bermel and the entire Scarsdale Public Library staff, who have embraced this exhibit so wholeheartedly and have created an entire month of opportunities for people of every age to learn, reflect, and engage.

Thank you as well to the Friends of the Scarsdale Library and especially Daniela Retelny, for the dedication you and Toby give to making our library such a vibrant and meaningful part of our town.

If you haven’t yet been to the library, please go. The Survivors Among Us exhibit will be there throughout the month, with programs and opportunities for children, teens, families, and adults. There truly is something for everyone.

One of the survivors said something last night that stayed with me: “It takes a village.”

It does.

And last night, we saw what a village can accomplish when people care deeply enough to come together.

As the daughter of a survivor, I cannot thank everyone involved enough for giving our town this extraordinary gift. My father would have been so proud to see our community remembering, learning, and carrying these stories forward.

Thank you, Scarsdale Public Library. Thank you, Friends of the Scarsdale Library. Thank you, WJCS. Thank you Beth and the entire library team. And thank you to every survivor who has entrusted us with your story.

What a gift to our village.

The exhibit will be on display this month in the Scott Room, followed by:

-A teen talk with Hanne Holsten on Saturday October 10 at 2 pm

-A movie screening of “Survival in Shanghai” on Thursday October 15 at 5:30 pm

-A Children’s Book Discussion on Monday October 19 at 4:30 pm

-A presentation on Scarsdale and the Holocaust with Village Historian Jordan Copeland on Wednesday October 21 at 6 pm

-Closing Reflections with Steven Goldberg, Director of Education at the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center on Sunday October 25 at 3 pm.

Find all information here: