A Holocaust survivor from Rockville, Md.–who grew up Orthodox in Czechoslovakia and helped her father, a wine and beer manufacturer, bottle drinks before Shabbos–will be a special guest of Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff’s, seated in First Lady Jill Biden’s viewing box at tonight’s State of the Union address.
Ruth Cohen, 92, and her older sister Teresa survived numerous concentration camps, including Auschwitz-Birkenau. Her father, Herman Friedman, also survived the war, but the rest of the family was murdered.
A U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum volunteer, she met Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, last year before International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In that meeting, Cohen spoke of the importance of raising awareness about the history and dangers of antisemitism.
Other State of the Union guests of the first lady at the joint session of Congress are set to include Ukrainian Ambassador to Washington Oksana Markarova and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul. JNS
