In 1940, the Nazis began to focus their attention on Poland's three million Jews, forcing them into overcrowded ghettos. The largest was the Warsaw Ghetto, which was home to about 400,000 people. The majority of the residents died from disease even before they started being shipped to the Treblinka extermination camp.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which lasted from January to May 1943, was an effort by the civilians in the ghetto and the resistance organizations in the area to end the transportations. The uprising was crushed when the poorly armed and outnumbered resistance fighters met German troops led by Gen. Maj. Jurgen Stroop.

It has been 65 years since the uprising took place and community members filled every seat in Temple Sholom in River Edge May 1 to hear stories from six Holocaust survivors, to remember what happened and to light candles for the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust.

"I remember celebrating the 30th anniversary when I was a rabbinical student at the University of Michigan. Each year brings a different experience," Rabbi Neal Borovitz said. "I recently visited Warsaw to see my son who is studying out there. As we walked and saw the remnants I felt both anguish and hope. As we stood there, we saw a group of students come by and be instructed about the meaning and history of the area. And we have to continue to remember and remind; forgive but never forget."

Among the list of guest speakers for the night were Colleen Tambuscio, a teacher at New Milford High School, and one of her students, senior Michael Kontomanolis. Tambuscio implemented a Holocaust education program at New Milford High School, where for the past eight years she has taken students abroad to visit Auschwitz, Berlin, Prague, the Czech Republic and Poland.

"On our most recent trip, we met with residents of a small town that helped a family hide in the forest for three years. They risked their lives to help others," Tambuscio said. "While we were out there, we saw the underground huts where there is no historic marker. Only the residents of the town know where to find it. So during the year, the students are going to raise funds to erect some sort of memorial to the site for the town when we return next year."

Kontomanolis, who went on the trip as a sophomore and again as a senior, spoke to the crowd about his experiences.

"Immoral, inhuman and unethical — these pierce at the very core of what existed during the Holocaust. Where was the world when this was going on? When I was in Germany I was left with more questions than answers," Kontomanolis said. "I didn’t know just how much this would truly affect my life. While in Auschwitz, I heard a story of a survivor about how the SS would force two men to fight to the death in a pit. They would force two brothers or a father and son to fight one another for survival."

Teenage students read six North Jersey survivors’ stories as the survivors stood on the stage with their families.

Evelyn Ripp, of Tenafly, grew up in Lachva, Poland. Only herself, father and younger sister survived during the Lachva Uprising of 1943. The rest of her family was shot during the uprising when young Jewish men fought Nazi soldiers after a mobile extermination squad arrived. The Lachva Uprising took place one year before the Warsaw Uprising.

Yaffa Rosenthal, of Hackensack, spent the majority of the Holocaust living in a Budapest ghetto. Her mother and sister also survived, but the rest of their family didn’t.

Simon Kahan, of Paramus, was born in Paris, France. His family survived by moving to Normandy and pretending to be Catholic.

Student Benjamin Meisel read Kahan’s story.

"We were assimilated Jews living in a mixed neighborhood. I went to public school and experienced no anti-Semitism before the war. In late 1940, the Germans occupied Northern France. When my school closed, my mother enrolled in a convent school where I was taught catechism along with the standard curriculum. I had no trouble blending in with the other children. I became a choirboy. During mass, the priest would talk about the Jews killing Jesus."

In the summer of 1942, Simon was sent to live with a family in Normandy. His mother and sister lived on a different farm, and his father lived on another. While they were within five miles of each other, they rarely saw one another because it was too dangerous. After the war, he and his family moved to Brooklyn to be with relatives. Simon joined the Air Force during the Korean War, becoming an air traffic controller and later going on to study mechanics and moving to Paramus with his wife and three children.

Ruth Biheller, of River Edge, lived in Western Poland with her family when the Russians and then later the Germans invaded.

"There was only one transport from Brzezany. It was to the Belzec extermination camp. My grandfather and his family were among the 500 rounded up. Later the Germans decided a transport was too much trouble, so they took people out of sight and shot them," read Brittany Ezratty. "In early 1943 there were rumors the ghetto would be liquidated. My mother’s family had delayed their departure, but it was too late. They were shot into mass graves."

Biheller’s family moved from hiding place to hiding place for an entire year. In June 1944, they returned home. Eighty people came out of hiding or returned from Russia. There were 1,100 in mass graves. In 1951, her family left Europe and came to New York. She later moved to Israel and then returned to the United States to River Edge to raise her family.

Harry Gray, of Fair Lawn, grew up in Poland. He was sent from site to site as a worker. He later pretended to be Polish, changing his name as he want along for fear of being discovered as Jewish. He, his brother Zelig and cousin Avram survived. Nine years ago, he went completely blind even though he always had 20/20 vision.

The event concluded with a second-generation response by Dora Mester, whose parents were both survivors. Each was previously married before meeting each other. Her father never gave up hope looking for his lost children from his first marriage and Mester continues his search even after his death.

"The second generation must play a role in educating our families of the present problems of racism that exist in this world. I share my story because our children and grandchildren must know the truth about what happened to my parents, grandparents and to the millions of others," said Mester. "I feel the responsibility to remind the world that a horror should not and cannot ever happen again since my parents are no longer with us."