Tag: Holocaust survivors tell their stories

“I was taken in by a wealthy farmer and his wife. Someone informed the Germans. When they came to investigate, the farmer huffed that someone as well established as him would never risk hiding a Jew. The SS believed him. Some people are criminals, some are good.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

Good people saved lives by risking their own

Berlin, 1937. Jewish newlyweds flee Germany for Brooklyn on the eve of the Nazi slaughter

“Antisemitism in our town began when Romania became part of Hungary. We were marched from the ghetto through the cemetery. I stopped at my father’s grave to tell him we were being deported. At the railway station, our former neighbors cheered.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

“I was smuggled out of the Warsaw Ghetto as an infant and handed to a Christian woman, who was later sent to a labor camp. Somehow we got separated and I was left at the train station, knowing only my first name and age: 2 ½ years.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

“Before we were deported, soldiers put tags with SS insignia on all our belongings . They owned everything now, down to the last toothpick.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

“The Swedes were very generous, considering that their own food and clothing were strictly rationed. Women could receive only one dress, one pair of shoes, and two pairs of stockings a year. No bra. One day the Swedish flag was stolen from the flagpole. The crime was solved when blue and yellow bras appeared on the camp’s clothesline.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

“When the capacity of Dachau grew from 5,000 to 50,000, I had to share my narrow bunk bed. First my bunkmate and I hated each other, but we soon realized that sleeping pressed together helped warm our emaciated bodies.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

“Our mother, said to have ‘hands like an angel,’ attended the Vienna Fashion Institute, and passed on her sewing skills to my sisters and me. It saved our lives. We became seamstresses in the camp, pulling threads from the confiscated clothes of dead prisoners to reuse in uniforms.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

“The SS marched us for hours until they began running away. Finally all the German soldiers disappeared. We came to a soccer field where soldiers in jeeps threw us chocolates, cookies, and cigarettes. People yelled, ‘The British are here, the British are here.’” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

“Twice a day, no matter the weather, we stood outside for Zellappell (roll call). One day, a woman gave birth to a premature baby. No one knew she was pregnant. The tiny baby just slipped out. Still standing, we dug a hole with our feet in the sandy soil and buried it.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.

“Some sick prisoners tried to outwit SS selections. In the barracks kitchen, they rubbed scraps of beets on their cheeks to make them look red and healthy. It was risky, though, because sometimes healthy prisoners were picked to give blood for German soldiers.” Read about two Holocaust survivors, German Jewish newlyweds sent to America by their parents to have children to “save our people,” in One Person’s Loss. Learn more about the book in NOVELS.