SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Ben Midler, 95, and I have a few things in common. We both love In-N-Out and sharing stories.
“When people listen to a witness, they become witnesses,” Midler said.
I sat with him for lunch to hear his story of surviving the Holocaust.
“The first thing they did, they told everybody to wear a yellow star,” he said.
In 1941, the Nazis invaded his home in Poland and killed his father. Ben then went through six concentration camps. He says it took a few miracles and a good attitude to come out alive.
“My motto is yesterday was gone, today’s today and tomorrow a better day," Midler said. "That’s why I'm alive today.”
He is one of 500 Holocaust survivors in San Diego County, but there is still no permanent memorial or museum recognizing their shared experience. It's especially important since there were at least 35 incidents of anti-semitic harassment and vandalism in San Diego last year, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
“It’s about honoring and loving all the Holocaust survivors,” said Sandy Scheller, creator of the RUTH: Remember Us Exhibit.
Sandy Scheller created the county’s first year-long Holocaust exhibit in 2020. It included memorabilia from her mother, who was also a Holocaust survivor.
“These are the stars, my mother’s, my grandfather’s, my grandmother’s,” Scheller said.
That exhibit was temporary, and this year, the county has asked her to make another one.
“I want to create it so that by the end, it’s a piece of work somebody will be able to take and make into a museum,” Scheller said.
This one will also be up for a year, but she’s hopeful it will inspire a permanent installation.
Scheller expects her exhibit to be finished in April. The county still hasn't decided on a location.
