At 105, Blumenthal looks forward to every tomorrow

Every night before she goes to sleep, Ella Blumenthal leaves her curtains open. Having turned 105, she still wants to ensure she sees the sun rise. It’s a simple ritual, but one that captures the outlook of one of South Africa’s best-known Holocaust survivors. 

After surviving Auschwitz, Majdanek, and Bergen-Belsen, Blumenthal wakes each morning anticipating a great day. 

Blumenthal celebrated her Hebrew birthday on 11 Av (25 July), on Shabbat Nachamu, the Sabbath of comfort that follows Tisha B’Av. Surrounded by four generations of her family, she marked this remarkable milestone with the same gratitude, humour, and optimism that have become her hallmark. More than 100 guests attended the celebration in Cape Town, which featured singing by Choni G. On the Roman calendar, her birthday is 15 August. 

“I can’t believe I’ve reached this age,” she says. “It feels unbelievable. It’s not that I just reached it, but it’s that I still look forward to each new day.” 

Born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1921, Blumenthal endured unimaginable loss during the Holocaust. After World War II, she rebuilt her life, eventually settling in South Africa with her now late husband. In recent years, she has become an internationally recognised Holocaust educator, sharing her testimony with audiences across the world and inspiring countless people through her message of hope. 

Yet her family gathered to honour mostly the mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and matriarch whose greatest achievement has been the life she created after the Holocaust. 

“I’m most grateful for Hashem’s guiding hand both then and now,” Blumenthal says. “I’m also very grateful to my daughter, Evelyn, and son-in-law, Paul, for taking care of me so well.” 

Her daughter, Evelyn Kaplan, believes people often ask the wrong question when they hear her mother’s age. Instead of asking what her secret to longevity is, Kaplan believes they should be asking “How did she live so magnificently?” 

Blumenthal never wasted life because she understood its value better than most, says Kaplan. “She celebrated every occasion, every wedding, every grandchild, every ordinary Tuesday. She understood something most of us only discover too late. Ordinary days are extraordinary.” 

Blumenthal rejects the description of her life as one of hardship. “I would call it staring death in the face, day and night, in Auschwitz, Majdanek, and Bergen-Belsen where people were dying around me every day.” 

Instead, she chooses to focus on what came afterwards. “My greatest sense of pride is my family,” she says. “The fact that I, together with my late husband, built a new beginning from the ashes of the Holocaust and raised four wonderful children, 11 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.” 

Kaplan says her mother’s greatest achievement wasn’t just surviving but “creating a future for her family”. 

Blumenthal believes her outlook has played an important role in getting to 105. “I always have hope and belief that tomorrow will be better than today,” she says. “I always sleep with my curtains open so that I can see the new day come in, and I look forward to that.” 

Her daughter recalls that optimism even in times of serious illness. During one lengthy stay in intensive care, Blumenthal joked with her daughter that she should disconnect the machines, take her downstairs to the gym, and swipe her Discovery card so she wouldn’t lose her Vitality points. 

“That’s optimism, that’s determination, that’s my mom,” Kaplan says. 

Blumenthal’s hope extends to the Jewish people and the future of Israel. “During the Holocaust we had no mother, but now we have a mother in the State of Israel, a mother who protects and cares for her children, the Jewish people,” she says. “We will always be victorious, no matter what!” 

Her testimony has touched thousands who have heard her tell her story, in South Africa and abroad. Yet she remains humble about the impact she’s made. “If I can just influence one single person to have hope in tomorrow and to be proud of who they are, I’ll be happy.” 

Blumenthal’s advice in these trying times is simple. “Learn from the past, talk to each other,” she says. “You will find that there is more that unites us than divides us.” 

She hopes future generations will remember her “for never giving up, no matter what. Having strong Jewish values as a foundation for everything.” 

What brings her joy? “My family, my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, And seeing the sun coming up in the morning so that I know I have a beautiful day ahead of me.” 

For someone who has witnessed humanity at its worst, at 105, Ella Blumenthal is still looking forward to tomorrow.