A New Yorker who survived the Holocaust also kicked the coronavirus — and was given the star treatment when he was released from quarantine on Tuesday.
Staff at CareOne nursing home in Hanover, New Jersey, rolled out the red carpet for 94-year-old Jack Holzberg and cheered as he was discharged from their care, footage shared with The Post shows.
“The fact that he’s still here [after] all that he’s been through and that he was able to survive this, it’s amazing,” said granddaughter Erica Wasserman.
Holzberg was a teenager in Poland when World War II broke out and spent much of the Holocaust in several concentration camps.
Holzberg lost most of his family in the genocide and, after the war, immigrated with a surviving brother to New York, where he taught himself English and built a successful clothing business in Manhattan.
He was diagnosed with COVID-19 about two weeks ago and was treated at Weill Cornell Medicine, his granddaughter said.
After about a week in the hospital, he was transferred to the New Jersey nursing home and quarantined until doctors said he was well enough to go home.
Jack HolzbergCourtesy Erica Wasserman
“When we heard about the diagnosis we were all scared, but this was a miracle,” said Wasserman.
Following his exit from the care facility, Holzberg returned to the Forest Hills, Queens, home he shares with his wife of 68 years, Betty.
“This was their first time apart for this long. Both of them were very happy to be reunited today,” said Wasserman. “I’m happy they can ride the rest of this out together.”
The couple have two children, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. The 75-year anniversary of Holzberg’s liberation from the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria will be on May 6, Wasserman said.
Throughout his ordeal, the survivor stayed positive, his granddaughter said.
“Through this whole thing, we would FaceTime with him, his face would just light up, his family is definitely number one,” said Wasserman.
“We’re just so grateful that he’s on his way home,” she added. “It was an emotional day for everyone.”
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