DENVER — Colorado's oldest Holocaust survivor, Fanny Starr, passed away on Friday night. In her 98 years, she imparted many stories, but the one she was most vociferous about was the atrocities of the Holocaust. A Holocaust survivor herself, she dedicated the final years of her life to ensuring Coloradans do not forget the evils of genocide.
"Her last words, we must never forget," said Helen Starr, Fanny's daughter. "We must make sure this never happens again."
Fanny Starr lost most of her family early in life after the Nazis took over in Poland. She was sent to several concentration camps, including Auschwitz, where over one million people died.
"For a long time, my parents didn't talk about it at all," said Hilda Starr Kass. "They just felt that this wasn't something that they needed to tell their story because they lived through it, but it didn't want anybody to know."
But over time that began to change.
"It was a story that needed to be told," Hilda Starr Kass said. "our parents taught us all these things, what they went through. So we kind of hope that they and they prevailed."
Fanny Starr and her husband spoke across the state and advocated for Holocaust education to be a part of Colorado's high school curriculum. This summer that became a reality when Governor Polis signed the new curriculum into law.
After her passing, Fanny Starr's daughters see much more work still to be done.
"My sister and I are carrying it on for her in memory of her and my father because it has to be told," said Hilda Starr Kass. "We prevail through them and all the things that they taught us."
Even though Fanny Starr has passed away, her family says her voice will live on.
"She's impacted millions," said Helen Starr. "She was the light of so many people."
The family set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for funeral expenses and more.
