ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — An award-winning author and second-generation survivor shared his family’s story on the annual “Holocaust Remembrance Day.”

The Jewish Federation of Greater Rockford held the event at the Midway Village Museum Sunday afternoon.

Jeffrey Gingold’s father and grandparents escaped the camp they were in and survived. They declined to talk about their experience at first, but Gingold expressed that future generations would not know about it if they did not share their story.

He said that it is important to gather and talk about what happened, especially since this is not something that happened thousands of years ago.

“I think it’s important to remember it, because it’s not ancient history,” Gingold said. “And genocide is still occurring. I can name numerous other events, whether it’s Darfur or Rwanda, in our lifetime that occurred. Genocide is not going to magically go away unless we remember these occasions.”

All proceeds from Gingold’s book, “Tunnel, Smuggle, Collect: A Holocaust Boy,” are donated to Milwaukee’s Holocaust Education Resource Center.