It’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, and as the number of survivors steadily dwindles, there’s a heartwarming documentary out there that follows the life of one of them, the nonagenarian Sonia Warshawski.
She lives in Kansas City, Missouri and still drives on her own and runs a tailor shop. Joie de vivre permeates “Big Sonia,” from Warshawski’s cheetah-print steering wheel to her bright-red lipstick. She arrived in Kansas City after World War II, and now serves as a Holocaust educator in her city and region, traveling to schools and community gatherings to discuss her experiences in Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz.
“Big Sonia” (she’s not even cracking five feet) has been screening at film festivals since last fall, and it won the Napa Valley Film Festival’s prize for documentary. Check out the trailer here.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
WATCH: Meet Nonagenarian ‘Big Sonia,’ Among Last Holocaust Survivors of Kansas City
Author
Daniel J. Solomon
Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.