Holocaust survivor Eddie Ford had no family. Dozens of strangers showed up for his funeral.
A rabbi in Toronto thought no one would show up in 13-degree weather for the funeral of a Holocaust survivor with virtually no family.
At 11 p.m. on the night before the noon funeral of Eddie Ford on Jan. 31, Rabbi Zale Newman posted the request for members of the Jewish community to attend the funeral.
“Won’t take long but please dress warmly,” he wrote.
Ford had survived the Holocaust by being hidden with a Christian family.
Newman met him seven months ago, when the 85-year-old from Budapest was hospitalized with cancer that had spread throughout his body. Newman visited weekly before Shabbat and prior to Jewish holidays, writing in his post that Ford would recall his time as a young member of the choir in the Dohany Street Great Synagogue of Budapest. He could only remember the tunes to the Shema sung when the Torah was taken out and some lines of the Aleinu prayer.
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