Obituary of Jerry Rawicki

Jerry Rawicki,  the beloved man who lived with a love and kindness that was the polar opposite of the hate and horror he survived in the Holocaust, left this world peacefully on Feb. 22, 2022 at age 94. As a young Jewish teen in the Warsaw Ghetto, he smuggled children out to safety, bartered for food and intel to help the resistance, and used his speed, smarts, gymnastics, and luck to evade capture time and again. After the war, he moved to Pittsburgh, met his wife Helene, and started a family and an optical business. Then he relocated to Seminole where he began promoting peace and tolerance through lectures, videos, and work with the Florida Holocaust Museum. He co-authored multiple academic articles, invented devices for opticians, and wrote a novel. Through it all he showed flawless selflessness and humility. His amazing life left the legacy for which he was most proud: his family. Because he survived, he is survived by two children, seven grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. They are educators, engineers, authors, servers, executives, and a priest, minister, lawyer, and doctor. To them he dedicated his novel "with hope that they will be spared the fate that was thrust upon my generation." Memorial service, 11 am Monday, Feb. 28 at Temple Beth-El, 400 Pasadena Avenue South, St. Petersburg.

The care of Mr. Rawicki and his family has been entrusted to David C. Gross Funeral Home in St. Petersburg, Florida