1950s
Courtesy of Cleveland Jewish News
Ellis Lewin, attended Kent State 1952–1953, Pepper Pike, OH, celebrated his bar mitzvah on Jan. 26, 2021—75 years after missing it while imprisoned as a 13-year-old in Auschwitz. His family and friends gathered virtually for the event, which he hadn’t thought about doing until he was confined to bed last year.
Lewin’s mother and sister were murdered in the gas chambers at Auschwitz, and Lewin was liberated from Dachau in April 1945 by the 3rd Armored Division of the US Army. Then 14, Lewin was separated from his father and brought to the United States by the Jewish Children’s Bureau with nine other children and placed at the home of Winifred Freyer in Cleveland. He studied to be a concert pianist like his father.
In 1949, Lewin learned his father was in a displaced persons camp. Freyer paid for his passage to Cleveland, and Lewin relocated to East Cleveland to live with his father, graduating from Shaw High School, then commuting daily to the Kent Campus for two years. In 1953, he was drafted by the US Army and served as a tank commander in the 3rd Armored Division in the Korean War.
Upon returning in 1955, he married, became a businessman and raised his family in Cleveland Heights and Chester Township. For 20 years, he spoke about his Holocaust experience to high school students across Ohio and through Face to Face, the Holocaust education program then run by Congregation Shaarey Tikvah in Beachwood. (For more information, see article from Cleveland Jewish News.)
Lou Holtz, BS ’59, Honorary Doctor of Law ’94, Orlando, FL, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Dec. 3, 2020. This prestigious award is the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Holtz is recognized as one of the greatest football coaches of all time for his accomplishments on the gridiron. He is also a philanthropist and author.
After growing up in a small town in West Virginia, Holtz attended Kent State and was the first member of his family to enroll in college. He played football, studied history and joined the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. For the next seven years, he served as an officer in the United States Army Reserves.
Upon graduating from Kent State, Holtz began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Iowa. He landed his first head coaching job at the College of William & Mary, leading the team to the Southern Conference title and an appearance in the Tangerine Bowl.
Over the next 35 years, Holtz led successful college football teams, including North Carolina State, the University of Arkansas, the University of Minnesota and the University of South Carolina. He also coached the New York Jets during a 13-game stint in professional football. He compiled an impressive overall record of 249-132-7. Most notably, Holtz earned an outstanding 100-30-2 record in 11 seasons at the University of Notre Dame. His 1988 team earned a perfect 12-0 record and was crowned national champion. Most importantly, he inspired generations of young athletes along the way.
Since his retirement from coaching, Holtz has authored several books and contributed to ESPN and CBS as a sports analyst. He continues to give back to his community through two charities, the Holtz Charitable Foundation and the Holtz’s Heroes Foundation. Holtz has received honorary doctorates from the University of Notre Dame, the University of South Carolina, Trine University in Indiana and the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and the Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame, among many other accolades.