JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Press Release) — On weekends as a child, Dana Rogozinski sat with her grandmother, Ella, at the kitchen table playing with beads and baubles. Ella, a Holocaust survivor, was self-taught in the art of stringing pearls and worked as a jeweler for a high-end jewelry store in Jacksonville, Florida. Her grandmother’s Auschwitz forearm tattoo — a mix of letters and numbers – stood as the somber backdrop for bracelets the two made together. “The tattoo was indelibly etched in my mind,” said 28-year-old Rogozinski, Founder and President of The J & E Legacy Collection. “Years later the joy of jewelry making with my grandmother became the inspiration for my jewelry line,” she added.
Her grandfather, Jakob – of blessed memory — was also a Holocaust survivor. Ella and Jakob entered concentration camps, forced labor camps, and death camps as children and teenagers and met later in a Displaced Persons camp in Marktredwitz, Germany, following liberation. They lost their families, homes, and possessions. Their numbers became their story.
“For more than 20 years, my grandmother embraced opportunities to speak on the atrocities of the Holocaust along with the topics of love, tolerance, and human kindness at churches, synagogues, universities, and schools,” said Rogozinski. “Her tattoo, now fading, became her teaching tool,” she added. “There are approximately 100,000 Holocaust survivors remaining among us with numbers declining rapidly. For this reason, I feel a deep obligation to reach all people domestic and abroad with the lessons we have all learned from the Holocaust. We need to bring all their stories forward, and keep the conversation alive,” she said. If we do not remember the past we are bound to repeat it. “I am wearing the necklace with my number from the camps. We will never forget and I stand as a living testiment to our Jewish history.”-Edith, Holocaust survivor.
Sculpting Rogozinski’s path to entrepreneur and jewelry designer includes her degree in Merchandising and Product Development from Florida State University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University. She studied fashion in Paris, Milan, and London — igniting a penchant for precious gems and soft metals — before working in the fashion and jewelry industry in New York City.
Rogozinski took a year off to make Aliyah in Israel — to live, study, work, and experience the culture of her heritage. Her dream to create a keepsake heirloom piece to honor her grandparents came to fruition with the creation of necklaces, bracelets and cuff links. Her parents gifted her two uncles with carved-number cufflinks and the collection was born. Rogozinski launched The J & E Legacy Collection from Jacksonville, Florida in August 2017. Her goal is to be the catalyst and representative as the voice for the third generation.
The J & E Legacy Collection of Holocaust Remembrance Jewelry, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, features customizable sterling silver and 14K gold pendants, necklaces, bracelets, and cufflinks for men and women cut with the person’s assigned tattoo in addition to other remembrance designs. Each beautifully wrapped piece arrives in a commemorative box with a legacy card telling the story from research Rogozinski does. “These pieces spark a conversation and bring voice to the millions of people silenced and victimized,” said Rogozinski. “A coworker saw my cufflinks and it sparked the conversation. I can’t wait to support the tremendous cause and contnue to carry forward someone’s legacy.”-Kevin, Marine Corp Veteran.
The J & E Legacy Collection is on display at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center in Long Island, New York. A portion of each sale supports Holocaust education and scholarship. Go to www.jakobella.com to view the entire collection.
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Preceding provided by J&E Legacy Collection