Image by Getty Images

The parents of slain Jewish journalist Steven Sotloff said they had held out hope for his survival because his grandparents are Holocaust survivors and he “comes from survivors’ blood.”

In an interview with the Miami Herald on the eve of the anniversary of their son’s Sept. 2, 2014, beheading by ISIS, Sotloff’s parents announced plans to form a foundation to endow scholarships for journalism students.

Sotloff’s father, Arthur, told the newspaper that his son was a journalist in the Middle East who was “looking for the story of the people who were suffering there. He wasn’t reporting about anything else; he was reporting about the bread lines.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Arthur Sotloff confirmed that his son had a letter smuggled to the family, urging them to move on with their lives and appreciate each other, indicating that Sotloff knew he would never be released. Sotloff was 31 when he was murdered.

“It was a blueprint for the way Jews are supposed to live,” Arthur Sotloff said.

Sotloff’s mother, Shirley, said there is still no closure for the family.

“Steven is in a desert somewhere, laying in pieces with thousands of other people that have been killed,” Arthur Sotloff said. “We’ll probably never get his remains back, so that means we won’t get the closure most people get when they lose somebody. This has been very difficult.”

The Sotloffs, who live in Florida, are also working with the parents of James Foley, another journalist who was beheaded by ISIS, to establish a hostage crisis center for families in the United States.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount