102-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor Honored by Trump at the White House Just Days Before Tragic Death
Holocaust survivor Rosalee Glass, whose story of overcoming the hate and horrors of the Holocaust was chronicled in the 2018 documentary “Reinventing Rosalee,” has died at the age of 102.
Her death as a result of injuries sustained earlier this month came after her appearance at the White House Hanukkah party, where she was cited by President Donald Trump for her courage.
“We are profoundly honored to be joined this afternoon by Rosalee Glass, a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, the darkest chapter of human history,” Trump said during the Dec. 11 ceremony, according to a White House media pool report.
“After the war, Rosalee came to America and started a drapery manufacturing business. Now she has written a book, starred in an award-winning film, and is going strong at the age of 102,” Trump said, later adding, “You’re looking good. Thank you, Rosalee. Thank you for being here. It’s an honor. And you do — you really fill our hearts with open joy, Rosalee. So many people. And we know of your story.”
Glass was among the guests at a ceremony where Trump signed an executive order to fight anti-Semitism.
“In honor of Rosalee and the millions of Jews who suffered unthinkable persecution, we renew our pledge now and always: Never again. Never again,” Trump said. “Today, we thank God for the Jewish people, whose love and loyalty, brilliance and bravery, resilience and resolve, spirit and strength bless America and the world.”
The trip to Washington was Glass’s last public appearance, as chronicled by her daughter, Lillian Glass, who posted about her mother’s final days on Facebook.
Lillian Glass said that on Dec. 8, her mother was boarding a plane in Los Angeles to fly to the Washington area for the ceremony when she was dropped to the ground by an attendant, injuring her back and arm.
Three days later, the day of the White House event, “her arm was still swollen and back was hurting but she didn’t feel the pain because she was so excited to meet the President,” Lillian Glass wrote.
She wrote about what took place after the president’s public words.
Vice President Mike Pence “was so gracious and bent down to meet Rosalee and told her how honored he was to meet her and how gorgeous she was. Then Ivanka Trump bent down and was so lovely and gracious to Rosalee,” she wrote.
“I was not going to leave the White House without a photo of Rosalee and the President so I searched all of the galleries and finally found him. He saw me and Rosalee and motioned for us to come in. He said, ‘WOW Rosalee looks better than me’. ‘You are so beautiful Rosalee and it is an honor to meet you.’ HE then took a photo with me at his side and Rosalee in front of him. Rosalee was thrilled,” her daughter wrote.
“When we left the White House we were so thrilled as Rosalee said it was one of the best times of her life.”
However, the arm Glass injured was swollen, and she was in pain from the injury to her back. On Dec. 14, however, after what had been a positive start to the day, Glass woke up from a nap in pain and was taken to a hospital, where she subsequently passed away.
“My heart is so broken from this loss which is so severe, not only to me, but to the world,” Lillian told Inside Edition.
Glass’s obituary in the Jewish Journal noted that during World War II, she and her husband, Abraham, were sent to a Siberian prison camp during the war, where two of their three children died.
The obituary noted that when Glass turned 80, “she decided to live the rest of her life to the fullest. She learned to play the piano and traveled the world with her daughter.”
“At 90, Glass took up acting, appearing in commercials for Blue Cross, Porsche and Dodge. When she turned 100, she went riding with sled dogs in Alaska,” the obituary said.
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