Our birthday. We all have one. It’s the day we celebrate the beginning of life, another year of our past, another year of hope for the future.

For Henry Aizenman, that day is March 20, the day he was born in Warsaw, Poland. That’s the day that determines Henry’s age, when he was old enough to begin school, be drafted, cast a vote, and retire from work.

But Henry celebrates two birthdays. He also celebrates May 2, the day he was liberated by American troops from Wöbbelin near Ludwigslust. That’s the day he received a new beginning and a second chance at life. The day that signaled he had survived Auschwitz, Ravensbruck, and Braunschweig.

“The Holocaust robbed six million Jews of celebrating another birthday when it eliminated approximately two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population,” Henry says.

“I survived. I’ll always celebrate that.”