On Wednesday, February 18, 96-year-old Holocaust survivor Charlotte Roth formally completed her aliyah (immigration to Israel-ed.) process from within Israel, marking an extraordinary milestone in a life defined by resilience, faith, and love for her family and the Jewish people.
With the assistance of Nefesh B’Nefesh and Israel's Population and Immigration Authority, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL), and Jewish National Fund-USA, Roth formalized her aliyah in order to be closer to many of her descendants who now call Israel home.
"It is a truly wonderful moment in my life to be able to call myself Israeli, a citizen of our Jewish state," said Charlotte Roth. "Walking these streets with five generations of my family fills my heart with deep joy and strength, especially when I see Israeli soldiers and feel safety and pride where there was once fear."
Surrounded by five generations of her descendants, Roth’s aliyah represents the fulfillment of a dream that began in the aftermath of Europe’s darkest chapter and culminates today in the heart of the Jewish homeland.
"Charlotte’s life is a testament to the extraordinary resilience of the Jewish spirit," said Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Nefesh B’Nefesh. "From unimaginable darkness emerged a light that has shone for over five generations. Her aliyah today, surrounded by her family in the Jewish homeland, is profoundly moving and represents courage, renewal, and the enduring triumph of our nation. We are deeply privileged to share in this remarkable moment."
Born in Czechoslovakia into a large and close-knit family, Roth recalls her early childhood as joyful and filled with adventure. Raised in a home deeply rooted in love and family unity, she often reflects that "family was everything." That guiding value has remained constant throughout her life.
In 1944, at just 14 years old, Roth’s world was shattered. During Passover, as conditions for Jewish people deteriorated rapidly, her family was forced into a ghetto. Weeks later, days before Shavuot, they were deported to Auschwitz in a cattle car under horrific conditions. Upon arrival on the second day of Shavuot, Roth was separated from her mother and siblings during the selection process. It was the last time she saw them.
Because she knew how to sew, Roth was selected for forced labor, a skill that likely saved her life. She survived Auschwitz, a death march, and imprisonment in another camp until liberation. After the war, she returned to her childhood village only to learn that none of her immediate family had survived. Even more devastating was the news about her father, who just days earlier believed his whole family had perished. Unable to bear any more loss, he unfortunately took his own life.
From the remnants of her former life, Roth kept just one possession: a ring engraved with the initials “IS," for Ilanka Shvartz, the name she was born with before the war. She continues to wear it to this day.
In the years that followed, Roth rebuilt her life from nothing. As a teenager in a Displaced Persons camp, she met her future husband. They married there and welcomed their first child before immigrating to the United States, where restrictive immigration policies required her to assume a new passport, a new name, and in many ways, a new identity.
Settling in Cleveland, Ohio, the couple rebuilt what had been destroyed. Together they raised four children. Today, Roth is the matriarch of nine grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren, and 11 great-great-grandchildren, five generations that stand as living testimony to survival and continuity.
Her aliyah ceremony was marked by the presence of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. The young girl who once arrived at Auschwitz alone and orphaned has lived to see her family flourish in a sovereign Jewish state.
At 96, Charlotte Roth’s aliyah is more than a personal milestone. It is a powerful affirmation of Jewish endurance; a Holocaust survivor firmly rooted among five generations in the Jewish homeland.