Rose Safar Rosen, Born October 24, 1921 Departed March 23, 2017

Rose Safar Rosen was born in the former Czechoslovakia, in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains bordering Hungary.  In 1943 Rose and her sister Hannah’s family were taken away and sent to Auschwitz/Birkenau where the infamous Dr. Mengele presided over the selection process of work or death.  Hannah, her husband and their 3 children, Gita age 6, Hersh age 4, and David age 2 perished in the gas chambers.  Rose was also marked for death when an inmate literally took her by the shoulders and shoved her to the opposite side, the side that would be slave laborers in the many sub camps of Auschwitz. 

Rose was liberated January 27, 1945 by the Russian forces who then claimed Czechoslovakia as theirs.  With nothing to go home to she left and found her way to Pocking Germany where the Allied Forces had set up Displaced Persons Camps.  There she met her husband, Al, who was a policeman in the camp and wooed her with extra food and an actual mattress to sleep on.  They married September 15, 1946 and imigrated to the United States in February, 1949.

Rose and Al made their life in St. Louis, MO. where she worked as a seamstress, a sample maker for a top designer of an exclusive lingerie company. There was nothing Rose couldn’t do, especially with her hands. She could cook and bake and entertain beautifully in her home. She was a perfectionist in all she did.  She raised money for the American Cancer Society and has several awards honoring her commitment to help find a cure.

Rose was the most fabulous grandmother to Howard and Aaron Higgins and Heather Higgins Gaalaas. Thankfully she was able to meet her great granddaughters, Heather and Kevin Gaalaas’ twin girls, Alice and Cecily.

Rose moved to Sarasota, Florida in 2002 when she was 80 to be closer to her only child Lila Rosen Huse and husband, Stephen. She resided on the Aviva Campus first at Kobernick in Independent Living and for the last year and a half at the Benderson Skilled Nursing facility.

She is survived by her daughter, Lila Rosen Huse, son-in-law Stephen Huse and former son-in-law, Charles David Higgins.

Grand children: Howard Higgins of Portland, OR, Aaron Higgins of  Tulsa, OK and Heather Higgins Gaalaas (Kevin) of Denver, CO

Niece, Rose Rosen (Eddie Siegel) and Great Niece, Bianca Rogen (Melissa)of Tampa, FL

Step grandchildren: Kim Huse Marsh (Arthur) of Indianapolis, IN, Jill Huse Tietz (Chris) of Nashville, TN, and Craig Huse (Jill) of Indianapolis, IN

Great granddaughters: Alice and Cecily Gaalaas

Bonus great grandchildren: Andrew, Peter and Claire Marsh; Hailey and Taylor Jackson; Carson and Sohia Huse.

Graveside service Thursday, March 30^th, 10:00 AM, at the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery-White Road officiated by Rabbi James, Goodman.

Donations may be made to: 

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 

100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW, Washington, DC  20024-2126 or to

The St. Louis Holocaust Museum & Learning Center, 

12 Millstone Campus Drive, St. Louis, MO  63146.

BERGER MEMORIAL SERVICE