Dental Outreach Program for
Holocaust Survivors
I have started a program doing pro bono prosthodontic and oral surgical procedures on Holocaust survivors living below the poverty level.
My wife and many of my friends had families that were tortured and murdered by the Nazis, which has always had me involved in promoting that society does not ever forget the biggest mass murder in human history. Soon there will be no living members left to tell their stories.
I have found in my research in the clinical treatment of these dear patients that they have the following issues in common:
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Heart disease
- COPD and other pulmonary diseases.
- Estrangement from adult children who provide no financial support.
The patients are referred to us by the Alpert Jewish Family Services and the Jewish Residential & Family Services in West Palm Beach, FL.
I hope to form an alliance of dentists to join me in this charitable contribution to society.
Please contact The Alpert Jewish Family Services of Palm Beach County directly if you are a Holocaust survivor who is interested in becoming a pro bono patient for this dental outreach program. We do not take patients for this project through our online booking software, only through referral from The Alpert Jewish Family Services of Palm Beach County.
Meet Henry
Henry is missing all of his teeth on the right side of his mouth and can’t chew any food. Some of the teeth were knocked out from the butt of a rifle during the Battle of the Bulge. We will be doing an implant reconstruction.
He is 95 years old and was not emotionally capable of telling me his story. His caseworker will be sending me his bio by email.
Meet Boris
Boris has lost all of his teeth and is completely edentulous. We will be doing a mandibular full arch implant reconstruction to give him teeth again.
Meet Charlotte
Charlotte and her family escaped Belgium during the Nazi occupation, but not without close family members being murdered. She is currently publishing a book about her life.
Charlotte can’t chew on her back teeth because she only has six of her remaining teeth on her lower jaw. We’re making her a removable partial denture to replace her missing teeth so she can eat. In the future, if needed, we will place dental implants.
Meet Ms. Raisa
Raisa Sokolovsky is a child Holocaust survivor from Ukraine. Her family lived in Vitebsk, Belarus. She is the youngest of seven children and was a small child at the time the Nazis invaded. The family, through very ‘bashert’ circumstances, was on the last train that was allowed to leave. This train crossed paths with German soldiers and was heavily bombed, and everyone fled the train into the fields. Eventually, and with much hardship, Raisa and her family made it to Gorki (deeper in Russia), then in horse-drawn wagons to Guselniki, where they were sheltered by a gentile family. This is where she remained until liberation when they returned to find their home destroyed and many of their relatives killed. Raisa grew up in Lvov after the war and was able to finally emigrate to the US in 1978.
Her dental concern is the six teeth in the middle of her lower jaw. The roots are too short, and she needs advice about what to do. Eating and chewing are problematic for her.