It is with profound sorrow that I share with you the news that on Monday, July 18th, Joe Rubinstein, 101, left this earth to join his beloved family in Heaven. It was a day that I have been dreading since meeting Joe Rubinstein in 2007 – dreading because I simply cannot imagine life without Joe physically here. And yet as sad as I am, I am rejoicing in the knowledge that he is, at this very moment in the precious arms of the family he loved so much. The family he has not seen since he was taken from the Radom Ghetto in Poland 80 years ago.
He was a Holocaust survivor who taught us all so much – not about death, but how to live.
Joe died peacefully with his wife of 74 years by his side. Since meeting Joe after the war, Irene was seldomly far from Joe. He said often, "If it weren’t for her, I would have been dead long ago."
Joe lived every day with a grateful heart. So in his honor, I am going to share some of what I am grateful for as I mourn and celebrate Joe. I write these thoughts through my tears, so forgive any imperfections within.
I thank God for creating such a kind, gentle and beautiful soul.
Thank you, Joe, for expressing with unabashed enthusiasm your gusto for life, God, and people.
I am grateful that although you experienced the worst in mankind, you looked for the best in everyone.
Thank you for teaching us all how to never give in to despair and for your bravery in deciding to move forward with life when you had lost so much.
Thank you for your sharing your story, when doing so was so hard on you.
Thank you for the impact you will have on school children for decades to come. And for giving us a story of hope to so many around the world who are hurting.
Thank you for reminding us that life is precious and to never give up on it.
Thank you for being a voice for the many who did not survive the Holocaust to tell theirs.
Thank you for sharing your faith in your everyday living.
Thank you for reminding us to appreciate all of what we have.
Thank you for the light you brought to me and the world…a light of hope …of not giving in to despair and never giving up. Thank you for not turning to violence, evil, or self-abuse through drugs, alcohol, or suicide as a way of coping.
Thank you for the selfless prayers you said every day of your life for others.
I am grateful that your life will go on through your grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
I’m grateful that you found a way not only to live but thrive.
I am grateful for your bravery in speaking out about the sexual abuse you experienced and not remaining silent. I am grateful that in doing so you have helped others who have experienced the same become free of any shame.
I’m grateful that you lived to see your story brought into the world.
I am grateful you never let your past define your future.
I’m grateful for your loving wife of 74 years. I am thankful that two people of very different backgrounds, religions, and countries found a way to not only stay married for 74 years but do so so beautifully.
Thank you for shedding light on the abuse you faced at the hands of evil perpetrators…revealing what they had tried so hard to keep hidden.
Thank you for the honor of sharing your story around the world so that others will never forget.
Thank you for the inspiration you’ve been to me and my family.
I am grateful that despite your poverty-stricken youth, you found joy in every day of it.
I thank God for your close-knit family in Poland who gave you the foundation of love, strength, and perseverance to carry you through the unimaginable hardship to come. I thank God for your tenderhearted and strong mother who loved you unconditionally and whose wholesome cooking helped sustain you for years to come.
I am grateful for your father, that although he died when you were young, he instilled in you the value of working hard to take care of a family which served as a lifelong determination for you to do the same for yours.
I thank God for your grandparents who taught you the value of generational wisdom.
I am grateful you had siblings with whom you were able to share the fun and trials of your childhood, and for those memories that helped sustain you for the rest of your life.
I thank God that although you went on to live eight decades without your identical twin, your beloved mom, and your two other brothers and a sister, they remained part of you…giving you strength and reason to go on. I am grateful that at this moment you are reunited with them all.
Thank you, Joe, for not letting the horrors of your past keep you from creating things of beauty and comfort in the shoes you designed.
I am grateful for your childhood friends of all faiths and backgrounds who provided the foundation of your lifelong belief that, as you said so often, "We are all God's children."
I am thankful that those who never got to know you personally, will know you through your story.
I am grateful for the many people around the world who have come into my life because of your story. People that I would have otherwise never have known…people who have made my life better.
I am grateful that your story has allowed me to connect, and reconnect, with so many people including teachers and professionals who helped make publishing this book possible.
I am thankful that your story has brought back into my life so many of my dear friends and acquaintances from years past who have reached out to let me know how much your story meant to them.
I am grateful to you that your story has brought me to areas and places in the world that I otherwise never would have known.
Thank you, Joe, for being a light for the rest of the world…in good times and in bad.
I thank God for your steadfast faith, no matter what.
I am thankful that you knew that it was God who created you and sustained you, every day of your life.
I thank God that during immeasurable and unspeakable hardships and trials, you never gave up.
I am thankful for the words you asked me to share with everyone, “Life is precious. Don’t give up on it. Love life. Love God. Love each other. That’s all there is.”
Thank you, Joe, for the gift of peace and comfort you gave to me in one of our last conversations, when you said, “I thank God every day that I am alive. But when God calls me home, I am ready.”
And most of all, I thank God for creating the beautiful, tenderhearted soul that was and will always be you.
I thank God...I thank you, Joe...for giving me one of the greatest honors of my life in bringing your story to the world. I pray that I can continue to carry the torch for as long as I live.
God Bless you forever and ever, Joe. I will love you for eternity and I will think of you every day for the rest of my life.
For more about Joe’s remarkable life: Auschwitz #34207 The Joe Rubinstein Story by Nancy Sprowell Geise
