My many visits with Joe are so vivid to me. At one time, he and I discussed writing a book about his life as his sister had done. I learned many, many things through Joe. His great pain, his great love, his despair, and his hope. I am so sorry to have learned of his passing months later. It was my wish to speak with him further. I still have recordings of our conversations. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to know more about our conversations, and especially to let me know of his life in the past few years. Please.

Michelle, Bruceie and Larry...
How saddened I became when I read of your fathers' passing. Renny & Barry Resnick came down here for Spring Training and we talked and I asked about your dad and Renny informed me that he had unfortnately passed away. All of us have lost a good friend, a smiling face,someone you could count on.
Eternity has called and he is with Ruthie, Maddy, Esther, Harold,Izzy, Dorothy and Grandma Pearl, taking care of everyone as he always did. My world is less bright without him. He helped me approach my cancer surgery as he did with his.
Our best regards to you all and our love to you all.

Howard Weisberg, Temmi, Errol and Reesa

ONE OF THE GREAT MEN. a living legend, looming large. (what? you say he's no longer living? bah.) a gigantic presence of my youth. garrulous. passionate. LIFE - life itself was embodied in this man. a force of nature. a permanent part of my psychological makeup. I think of him as every Yom Kipur ends, and so much more often, too. so glad I had a chance to talk with him a few short months ago at my own mother's funeral...

Dear Michelle and family,
My deepest sympathies and prayers are with you during this most difficult time. As you well know Joe touched thousands of lives in so many ways. Truth be told, I thought he was indestructible. He demonstrated limits of the human spirit I did not think possible. His spirit and message will be with us all for a long time to come.

Dear Michele and Bruce,
We are so sad to learn of your dad's passing. Through the many years we have known Joe, we always enjoyed seeing him and appreciated his friendliness. We respected his energy and committment to educating the community about the Holocaust. May your memories sustain you through this difficult time.

Joseph was fun to pal around with. One of the best memories was a 10 hour roadtrip to Pennsylvania to pick up a piece of equipment. I drove my truck and trailer and he told the jokes. We have been friends for several years, starting our relationship on the common ground of Holocaust history education. I admired Joseph for his passion to teach "Man's Inhumanity to Man" to thousands of students. On several occations in his home, he would bring out the large envelopes of letters mailed to him by the students. Reading over those letters was very emotional for both of us. Joseph was my inspiration to promote Holocaust education in Maine. He allowed his own rules to be bent so that an outstanding Holocaust educator, Linda Voss of Waterville, Maine, was honored as a recipient of the Joseph Korzenik Teaching Fellowship...an honor usually reserved for Connecticut educators.
It's common knowledge to those of us who knew him ...Joseph was direct and said exactly what he wanted to..(sometimes to his disadvantage) when I realized that this was his usual method of opening a conversation with me...I had to be quick witted...as he was just waiting for my reaction...it was our banter over his directness and occational rudeness... that led to alot of laughter. He didn't get away with it with me..that was one reason I think why we enjoyed the unique friendship and just hanging out. Joseph made a difference with his life and energy. Joseph was a Survivor. He used that rare gift in his own way to promote love and tolerance and because of his efforts, I will never forget.

Michelle Larry Bruce Jennifer Andre Lucas AndrewJay Camille
We had visited cousin joe in november with cousins from florida, al and eileen mell. We got to spend a great amount of time with him. He talked about his family. How with time one begins to soften. May we all be good to one another.
love sara and al

A Tribute to My Dear Friend JOSEPH KORZENIK....SILENT NUMBERS

SILENT NUMBERS
NOTHING SAID
I,D ASKED TO LOOK
AT WHAT I,D READ
STRONG HANDS REACHED
GENTLY TO STROKE MINE
A LOOK THAT SAID
"I AM FINE"
FOR YOU TO SEE
WHAT,S BEEN DONE TO ME
IS ALL INSIDE
WRISTS I CAN HIDE
THIS MAN WAS STRONG
THIS MAN WAS BRAVE
HE WILL NOT REST THERE
IN A GRAVE
HIS WORK GOES ON
THIS I BELIEVE
THE "REAL JOE KORZENIK"
WHY DID YOU LEAVE?

JACQUI
ENGLAND

Dear Michele, Bruce, Jen, Andrew and Family,
We have known each other for a very long time. David and I wish we could be there for you all at this very sad time in your lives. Please know that our hearts go out to you and we know that Larry, Andre, Lucas and Camille are there for you all, unconditionally!
We hope that Joe has been reunited with Ruthie and that they are both at peace. We look forward to seeing you next month...sending love and hugs your way.
With Love
Lynne and David

Dear Korzenik Family,

The Korzenik and Markowicz families had a special bond that many could not imagine. Our fathers shared a "brotherhood" and love that we all saw every day of our lives. Joe and Ruth were like a second set of parents to us. We loved Joe with every bit of our hearts. He will always be remembered with the utmost respect,warmth and dignity.

The Moidel/Markowicz/Sherman family send its deepest sympathies on the death of Mr. Korzenik, as I grew up calling him. My uncle Abe Markowicz, and my father, Jacob Moidel, would have great conversations with Joe. I am proud to have known him. He was a brave and honorable man. May his memory be for a blessing, and may his family find comfort amongst the mourners of Zion.

my condolences go out to joes family. i met joe when working at the drugstore in bishops corner. i would bump into him at the bagel place. he had a wonderful memory. he remember talking to me everytime i bumped into him, but also he would remember my dad by name and where my parents live. i guess my dad and joe knew each other from the holocaust rememberance programs at the beth el temple. again my condolences to the family. may joe rest in peace.

For over 20 years, Mr. Korzenik was a great guest in my class. He never turned down an invitation to speak to my students at Avon HS. My students enjoyed his knowledge, humor, understanding of the past and how he connected to the present. His concluding message about hate hit home to all of us. He spoke about Ruthie, his parents, Larry and Michele, his grandchildren and life in Europe, 1939-1945. Students will remember Joseph Korzenik.

Michele, I hope you remember me from West Normandy Drive. I will never forget walking into your house each morning on the way to high school, so that we could walk together to the bus stop. Your father and your mother were always so sweet to me, the 16 year old, when I came in to get you. I will never forget their smiles and warm welcomes every single morning. I can still see them, circa 1968, standing in the kitchen while we waited for you to get your coat on. I clearly remember your father's early history and have even spoken of it to friends. It is wonderful to see what he has done to keep the memories alive and his efforts to spread them far and wide. I will always treasure the memories of those mornings with your family and our teenage friendship. May his memory be a blessing and may he rest in peace. Much love, Alene Wendrow

We knew him in the earliest days of the survivors in Hartford. He was one of the "boys". We pray that he has found peace and that he is holding hands with Ruthie whom he loved and missed so deeply. Rest in peace.

I would like to wish the family long life ,I myself was born in Vienna and survived Terezin as 9 months old baby in 1942

We knew Joe Korzenic in West Hartford as well as in Deerfield Beach.Florida. His voice made the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany against the Jewish people come alive to the many audiences he spoke to. It is stilled now but his message lives on.
May HaSh'm comfort his mourners among those that mourn for Zion and Yerushalayim.
With deep sympathy,
Eva and Harry Pick

Dear Michelle, Larry, Bruce, AJ, and Jeni, My sincerest sympathies on your loss. Joe will be missed by so many and this is a tremendous loss to the survivor community as well as those of us who loved him. Joe will be remembered for never forgetting the past atrocities and reminding the world what HATE can do. He will be remembered for his love of Judaism, current events, history, travel, and his beloved wife. Joe went to the bedside of so many of his fellow survivors and was very much the last man standing. I am forever grateful for his friendship while I was taking care of Mark...he called every week to offer his love and support to his friend and then came to Pittsburgh to offer a powerful eulogy. When I saw him in August I knew it would be the last time, but he was very much the same Joe even then. I was proud to be his friend. May his memory be of blessing.

Dear Michele
Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family during this time of sadness.
Nora, Jody, Emily and Jillian Goeler

I will always remember Joe for his strong and loving voice in defence of the Jewish people.

My deepest condolences on your loss. I have many wonderful memories from back in the Beth Shalom years when I was a child until today. We would bump into him over the years as we are still in Ct for part of year and he was never without a smile and a hearty greeting. We would update on our families and he always ended with best wishes for me and especially my husband, whom he remembered being critically ill in 1991. He will be sorely missed not only his family but friends and the community at large.

I knew Joe for many years as he was a customer of my family's Texaco Service Station in the North End of Hartford and then later as a member of the Hartford legal and business communities.

My sympathy to his family on your loss.

Joel Mandell

It is sad when a righteous man passes. Joe was one of the righteous. He dominated a room with his presence. Confidence, commitment, and dedication characterized this man. I recall at one of his talks to high school students, a young African-American girl talked about her ancestors being slaves. Joe responded that he was a slave - performing slave labor in the second world war. Her mind opened with understanding, as he emphasized tolerance.

Tolerance for Joe did not mean excusing evil deeds, nor being blind to those that seek to destroy. Rather it was to build a bridge to understanding, and avoid a heart filled with hatred and prejudice.

I considered Joe to be an inspiration and feel blessed to have known him. May his name be recalled for blessing, always.

From the time I met Joe in 1975 at Yankee Village in East Hartford, I admired him as a person and enjoyed his great sense of humor-
Richard Levy

Joe was a true survivor. He not only kept memories of the past alive as a warning for future generations. He actively promoted Jewish life in the present with an eye on the future. I am out of town or I would want to attend his service. ??? ???? ????? May the memory of his righteous acts endure for a blessing.

Dear Michelle and Larry,
Our heartfelt sympathy on the passing of your beloved father. May he rest in peace.
We wish you only good memories of the man he was.
Love, Marilyn and Alan Byer

Thank you, Joe, for all you did to help others understand the Holocaust more clearly through the sharing of your experience. Your presence has touched the lives of hundreds of others, and will live on in their memories.

We knew him in the earliest days of the survivors in Hartford. He was one of the "boys". We pray that he has found peace and that he is holding hands with Ruthie whom he loved and missed so deeply. Rest in peace.