Wednesday marked the 75th anniversary of Margit Feldman’s liberation from the Bergen Belsen concentration camp in Nazi Germany. On Tuesday, the Holocaust survivor and New Jersey resident died at age 90 due to complications from the coronavirus.
Feldman was born in Budapest and grew up in a small village near the border of what was then Czechoslovakia before being detained with her parents by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz. Her parents were murdered in the concentration camp, but Feldman lied about her age, saying she was 18 rather than 15, putting her into forced labor.
She survived several concentration camps, including a return trip to Auschwitz and a death march to Bergen Belsen. Feldman was 16 when British forces liberated her.
Feldman briefly moved to Sweden before discovering an aunt and uncle in the United States, allowing her to relocate to New Jersey in 1947.
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She became a x-ray technician and married Harvey Feldman in 1953. The two had a son, Joseph, and daughter, Tina, and three grandchildren.
When New Jersey formed the Holocaust Education Commission in 1991, Margit Feldman played a key role in orchestrating the program while working alongside former Gov. Jim McGreevey.
McGreevey, who was a state assemblyman when he worked with Feldman on the commission, remained friends with her through the end of her life.
“Never any sense of bitterness, but always the teacher and always filled with a sense of compassion and kindness," McGreevey said. "She was just an extraordinary human being, to have lived through all that, to have lived that life and to have suffered through those camps, yet to be grateful for life, to see the promise of tomorrow, she was just such an exceptional person.”
When Feldman published a book about her experiences during the Holocaust, McGreevy wrote its foreword. As they worked together decades ago, if McGreevey ever felt angry or upset, Feldman would be right there to tell him to let it go. He said that quality reflected perfectly on her outlook on life.
“After living through that hell, she was blessed with the gift of authenticity. She lived fearlessly and she loved fearlessly," McGreevey said. "It’s like there was nothing that the world could do that would cause Margit to live anything less than with full authenticity and the full measure of her being.”
Gov. Phil Murphy spent part of the Thursday’s daily coronavirus press briefing remembering Feldman’s life.
"Margit’s legacy is best captured in her work to ensure that the world never forgets the horrors of the Holocaust,” Murphy said. "She would share her story of survival and liberation with tens of thousands of students across the state, and served as a founding member of both the New Jersey Holocaust Education Commission, and the Holocaust and Genocide Institute at Raritan Valley Community College.”
Her husband Harvey Feldman is currently hospitalized at Morristown Medical Center with the coronavirus. Joseph Feldman is a doctor in East Orange, working on the front lines to fight the pandemic.
During her life in New Jersey, Margit Feldman became an active member in her synagogue and with The Jewish Federation of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren Counties, along with other organizations.
“Margit gave us so much hope over her 90-plus years,” Murphy said.
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Chris Ryan may be reached at cryan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRyan_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.