ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) – Throughout her life, Lisl Schick was committed to making sure Floridians never forgot the Holocaust.
The Holocaust survivor, honored by News Channel 8 as Tampa Bay’s Remarkable Woman in 2021, passed away Tuesday in Largo surrounded by her family. She was 94.
“She was really so appreciative that she survived and she was alive,” Florida Holocaust Museum Board Chair Michael Igel said. “She was gonna make every day count.”
At just 11-years-old, Lisl escaped Nazi occupied Austria with her brother on the Kindertransport. They were among the 10,000 mostly Jewish children who found refuge in England during World War II.
“As I grew older and older, I couldn’t believe that my parents had the nerve to put us on that train,” Schick told News Channel 8 in February.
She reunited with her parents after the war in New York City before she married Holocaust refugee Alfred Schick and moved to Clearwater.
Earlier this year, the FHM opened a special exhibit that shares her remarkable story.
“She was one of our survivors who said, ‘you call me whenever you need me’ and she would always be here or go to schools,” Igel said.
Lisl often said, “the answer to prejudice is education” and her Holocaust lessons would focus on teaching students the importance of standing up against cruelty, bigotry and bullying.
Her daugther Nancy Greenberg said her mother was her role model and inspiration.
“I thank god every day I was given the parents I had and it wouldn’t have happened if not for the kindness of strangers,” Greenberg said.
When News Channel 8 recognized Schick last year, she donated the $1,000 to the Florida Holocaust Museum.
In lieu of flowers, her family is asking to send donations to her beloved museum.
