Phoenix Holocaust Association

Echoes & Reflections Workshops: Analyzing Propaganda and Teaching Media Literacy
2022-02-16 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Phoenix)
Analyzing Propaganda and Teaching Media Literacy: The Holocaust as a Case Study

Description
Media literacy skills have become essential for young people to successfully navigate and critically assess the ever-increasing amount of information they receive throughout their day – on social media, advertisements, television, and film. Therefore, it is crucial for students to comprehend and identify how media, both historically and in contemporary society, can be used as a tool to incite hate and violence against certain groups. This learning opportunity examines the events of the Holocaust through the lens of media, by examining propaganda deployed by the Nazis to discriminate against Jews and other minorities. Educators will gain the tools to facilitate classroom discussions on the role and impact of Nazi propaganda during the Holocaust and support their students to critically analyze media in today’s world.
This program is sponsored by Tucson Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center.

Time

Feb 16, 2022 04:00 PM
Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqcuChrDkoGNR5zFMGspdRJxElUAx0YQ-f

Tommy Schnurmacher: Makeup Tips from Auschwitz
2022-02-16 17:30
Wednesday February 16, 2022 at 5:30 PM MST; 7:30 EST; 4:30 PST
Register here: https://tinyurl.com/3jhyk5t4
Make Up Tips from Auschwitz. Join us to listen to the widely-recognized Canadian author, journalist, show-business columnist, broadcaster, Board member -Foundation for Genocide Education….and raconteur extraordinaire, Tommy Schnurmacher, as he offers us a very unique post-Holocaust memoir about how his mother got two infamous Nazis to save her life … and the profound impact her chutzpah had on their unusual and turbulent relationship.
Be prepared to laugh, cry, and scratch your head.

Echoes and Reflections: Contemporary Antisemitism
2022-02-23 16:00 - 18:00
Spotlight on Contemporary Antisemitism

Description
Read the news and it is clear: antisemitism is not a relic of the past, but a hatred the world struggles with today. It is important that educators have the resources and tools to feel prepared to talk about contemporary manifestations of antisemitism and hate with students. This learning opportunity explores classroom materials to support effective teaching of contemporary antisemitism, its global reach, and its expression in the form of hate speech, violence, denial, and distortion of the Holocaust. Educators will also explore ways to support students’ commitment and ability to actively respond to and prevent antisemitism and other forms of prejudice in their communities.
This program is sponsored by Tucson Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center.

Time

Feb 23, 2022 04:00 PM
Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIuc-qsqjojGNclhkfEHCG_rAYfI5dXCCFZ

Holocaust by Bullets
2022-02-27 - 2022-04-17 | Hayden Library at ASU, 300 E Orange Mall, Tempe, Arizona, 85281
The Holocaust by Bullets exhibit will be open at ASU’s Hayden Library from
February 27 through April 17.
*Hayden Library will be closed Sunday March 6.

The exhibition “Holocaust by Bullets 10 Years of Investigation” presents the results of Yahad-In Unum’s research in Eastern Europe.
It also underscores the “Holocaust by Bullets” as a precursor and model for mass murder crimes today. The exhibit showcases the painstaking research uncovering the step-by-step nature of the crimes committed against Jews and Roma by the Nazi killing units. The exhibition is built around the five steps of the crime identified by Yahad-In Unum researchers based on eyewitness accounts.

Docent-Led Exhibit Tours Open to the Public
Mondays from 5–7 pm and Sundays from 1–3 pm from Feb. 28–April 17
Hayden Library at Arizona State University, 300 E Orange Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
Masks Required
*Hayden Library will be closed Sunday March 6.

Visit the Holocaust by Bullets Website for More information about the events: Holocaust by Bullets (holocaustbybulletsphoenix.com)

The 2022 Holocaust Educator Conference
2022-02-28 16:30 - 21:00
Keynote speaker will be author and award-winning podcast host, Rachael Cerrotti. Rachael is the author of a book and podcast of the same name, We Share the Same Sky. She also cohosts the Memory Generation podcast with oral historian Stephen D. Smith, a project of the USC Shoah Foundation.

Register for Online Event: LINKS.ASU.EDU/BJECONFERENCE

Catching the Body Collector
2022-03-06 11:00
Join 3GAZ for this Exciting Online Event!
Catching the Body Collector
Meet Hans Knoop, the legendary Dutch journalist who was instrumental in exposing one of the worst war criminals in Dutch history. Hear how Mr. Knoop and Chaviv (Bibi) Kanaan helped bring justice to the Kanaan family and countless other Holocaust victims. Local Phoenix resident and grandson of Chaviv Kanaan, Erez Kanaan (3G), and Erez’s father David Kanaan (2G) will be joining us for this riveting presentation about their family’s story.
Sunday, March 6, 2022
11:00 am MST
via Zoom
Register: Catching the Body Collector Registration, Sun, Mar 6, 2022 at 11:00 AM | Eventbrite

The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive
2022-03-23 12:00
Please Join PHA in an Online Discussion with Lucy Adlington
Date and time

Wed, Mar 23, 2022, 12:00 PM MST
Register: https://tinyurl.com/4fm9k2w5

Keynote Presentation by Father Patrick Desbois: ﻿Holocaust by Bullets and Relevance to Modern Genocides
2022-04-04 18:30 | Memorial Union on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University, 301 E. Orange St, Tempe, Arizona, 85281
April 4, 2022, 6:30 pm

Father Patrick Desbois will be the keynote speaker for Genocide Awareness Week. Father Desbois is a distinguished author, university professor, historian, forensic detective and world-renowned human-rights activist. He has dedicated his life to fighting the bigotry that fuels genocide and to bridging the divide between faiths. His ongoing work helps brings closure to victims and survivors of genocide and calls for legal justice for the perpetrators.

Father Desbois will speak at the Memorial Union, Arizona Ballroom, on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University. Limited seating. Reservations required. When you sign up, you can indicate if you want to attend in-person or virtually. Father Desbois’ book, In Broad Daylight, will be available for sale or bring your copy of his books for signing.

Registration: Keynote Speech by Father Patrick Desbois: Holocaust by Bullets and Relevance to Modern Genocides – New Registration (eventscloud.com)

The Phoenix Boys Choir will perform prior to Father Desbois presentation.

Klezmer Band Concert
Free and Open to the Public
5pm-6pm
Between The Memorial Union and Hayden Library, ASU Tempe Campus

The Current State of Antisemitism
2022-04-06 17:00
3GAZ will be one the sponsors for this upcoming event on The Current State of Antisemitism a virtual conversation with fellow 3G Josh Lipowsky.

April 6, 2022

5:00pm AZ
8:00pm EST

Register Here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fGfm0h6ETFqO0QCneFLe-w

Hidden Children: The Resilience of Survivors
2022-04-13 11:00 - 12:30
Wednesday, April 13 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
The program will be held on Zoom.
Register below to receive the link, which will be sent the day before the program.
Go to this page for Registration
Generations After – EVJCC

Join Generations After to learn about children who were hidden during the Holocaust. The program includes a video about hidden children and Q&A with Holocaust survivor Marion Weinzweig, one of the youngest living witnesses to the horrors of the Holocaust.
Marion was born in German-occupied Poland. To save her life, her family hid her with Christians. After being exposed, she fled and lived in convents masquerading as a Catholic. She shared her story in “Lonely Chameleon; Memoir of a Child Holocaust Survivor.”
Please call EVJCC if you have any difficulty register

Café Europa
2022-04-14 16:00 - 17:00
Thursday April 14
Meals will be delivered between 1-3pm
Special Passover Menu
Join us on ZOOM @ 4:00pm to discuss Passover memories through the years
RSVP with Elaine @ elainegoldenthal@gmail.com

YOM HASHOAH
2022-05-01 11:00
Phoenix Holocaust Association Invites You to Join Us for
YOM HASHOAH
Never Again, But How?
May 1, 2022 11:00 AM
Virtual Presentation
Open to the Community
Visit https://phoenixhsa.formstack.com/forms/2022_yom_hashoah_rsvp to RSVP
We will honor the memory of those who perished during the
Holocaust and recognize those who survived. The program features a
round table discussion with high school students and Holocaust
survivors, music, and a candle-lighting ceremony.
Participants: Rabbi Andy Green of Congregation Or Tzion, Cantor
Seth Ettinger of Congregation Beth Israel
and Shevet Shemesh Israeli Scouts.

The Story Behind the Making of the Play The Last Boy.
2022-05-18 17:00
Please join PHA In Our Upcoming
Online Discussion with Steve Fisher
Steve Fisher is a New York based, award-winning playwright. For 25 years Steve was a full-time choral director, travelling the world and transforming the lives of young people through the power of music. His choir was the first in history to travel to and perform in Antarctica. With the pandemic, he decided to retire from music education so that he could pursue his playwriting avocation full time. Mr. Fisher will talk about his most recent work, The Last Boy…a new play with music. It was inspired by the 100 boys in Terezin concentration camp who fought the Nazis
with poems, and the 1 boy who saved them. The Last Boy..a new play with music had its world premiere Off Broadway in July of 2021. In January, the drama won four Broadway World Awards for Best New Play, Best Production, Best Direction, and Best Performance. You can learn more about the play at https://thelastboy.info/

Whew...We Got Out of There
2022-05-20 10:00
Whew…We Got Out of There. Friday May 20, 2022 @ 10:00AM MST.
SPEAKER: Holocaust Survivor, John Kessler. Join us on Friday May
20th, when John will share with us his story of survival and how he and
his family GOT OUT OF THERE…WHEW! To Register:
afusco@azjhs.org

CAFE´ EUROPA
2022-05-22 16:30
Join us on ZOOM @ 4:30pm for a poetry reading by
Susan Getz. Susan’s mother was a Holocaust survivor,
and she will be reading from her manuscript
“Holocaust Memories and Other Poems”. We would also like to
encourage anyone attending to read one of their favorite poems.
Email Elaine: elainegoldenthal@gmail.com

The Birds Sang Eulogies
2022-06-10 10:00 - 12:00
Friday, June 10 2022 – 10AM-12PM (MST)
SPEAKER: Mirla G. Raz, daughter of Holocaust Survivors
Mirla Geclewicz Raz is the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Her father was living in Lodz when the Germans entered in September 1939. Draconian laws were put into place immediately. In March 1940, the Jews of Lodz were trapped inside the Lodz Ghetto. When the Lodz Ghetto was liquidated in August 1944, her father and his remaining family members were shipped to Auschwitz. Ms. Raz’s mother was living in the city of Lvov (now Lviv in Ukraine) when Hitler broke his pact with Stalin. Her mother and her family were forced into the Lvov Ghetto. She escaped into Germany where she worked as a maid in a German household. A quiet woman, she expressed her emotions of living through those horrific years in her poetry.
Ms. Raz will present her parents incredible stories of survival and what it was like growing up as a child of survivors. Ms. Raz will read a couple of her mother’s very emotive poems.
Register: The Birds Sang Eulogies — Arizona Jewish Historical Society (azjhs.org)

Rescued
2022-06-24 10:00 - 12:00
RESCUED Friday, June 24, 2022 – 10:00 am to 12:00 pm MST
SPEAKER: Holocaust Survivor, Suly Chenkin. Suly Chenkinwas born in Kovno, Lithuania. As a ten month old, Suly’s family, together with about 40,000 other Jews were interned in the Kovno Ghetto. Her life was spared at 3 1/2 when her parents sent her into hiding with a woman named Miriam Shulman. Please join us as Suly tells her incredible story of perseverance
and courage and how she eventually came to be reunited with her family.
Register: afusco@azjhs.org

You Are My Liberator
2022-07-08 10:00 - 12:00
Friday, July 8, 2022 – 10:00 am to 12:00 pm (MST)
SPEAKER: US Liberator of World War II, Vernon Schmidt
Register: afusco@azjhs.org

Sevek & the Holocaust The Boy Who Refused to Die
2022-08-12 10:00 - 12:00
Friday, August 12, 2022 – 10:00 am to 12:00 pm (MST)
SPEAKER: Holocaust survivor, Sidney “Sevek” Finkel
Sidney “Sevek” Finkel is the author of Sevek and the Holocaust, The Boy Who Refused to Die. This Holocaust seminar will focus on an eight-year-old Sevek, capturing the emotions of a boy who loses his home, his family and ultimately his humanity by the time he reaches the age of fourteen. This seminar is used to help with recently passed legislation that offers teachers an opportunity to apply this session in their curriculum in the State of Arizona, Join is on August 12 as Finkel will share his story, relaying a message of tolerance, hope and love.
Sidney Finkel received the Philip K Weiss Award for Storytelling for Peace and Human Rights in 2013.
Learn more about Sidney Finkel’s work with schools and education at his website http://holocaustspeaker.com/
RSVP: afusco@azjhs.org

Online Discussion with Jeremy Schonfeld
2022-10-12 17:00
“Iron & Coal” is a powerful and deeply personal rock-opera by critically acclaimed composer and performer, Jeremy Schonfeld. Taking inspiration from his father Gustav’s memoir, “Absence of Closure,” Schonfeld traces his father’s attempts to create a life out of the ashes, having spent a year in concentration camps at the age of ten. Schonfeld weaves together memories of his own childhood, growing up under the long shadows of Auschwitz, all while coming to terms with the death of his father and the birth of his own son. The ghosts of a distant, vanished world, both of horror and the iron will to survive, mix with the present in this soaring, emotional, and spiritual tribute.
Register: https://tinyurl.com/ns86ctwn

Iron & Coal is available for viewing prior to the presentation at https://vimeo.com/295417921/129cd8ac94.

Online Book Discussion with Author Gina Roitman: My Mother, the Nazi Midwife and Me
2022-11-16 17:30
IMAGINE learning that 52 Jewish newborns “died” right after their birth in one DP camp in Germany – between 1946-1947!!! Who killed them and why?
JOIN US: The Phoenix Holocaust Association invites you to an interview with Gina Roitman, award winning writer, poet, essayist, and a Second Generation, born in the Passau DP Camp, Germany, to Polish survivor parents. We will focus on her two books and also describe the post-war horrors reflected in her documentary film “My Mother, the Nazi Midwife and Me.”
Also about her books: Tell Me a Story, Tell me the Truth; Don’t Ask.

Wednesday, November 16, 2022 at 5:30 PM Arizona time; 7:30 PM EST; 4:30 PM Pacific (check your time zones).
To register: https://tinyurl.com/2p87b2dv

www.nazimidwife.com

Discussion with Author, Martin Goldsmith: The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany.
2022-12-15 14:00
The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany

Discussion with Author, Martin Goldsmith

December 15, 2022 at 2PM (MST)
Discussion via ZOOM

Set amid the growing tyranny of Germany’s Third Reich, here is the riveting and emotional tale of Günther Goldschmidt and Rosemarie Gumpert, two courageous Jewish musicians who struggled to perform under unimaginable circumstances―and found themselves falling in love in a country bent on destroying them.
Beautifully and simply told by their son, National Public Radio commentator Martin Goldsmith, The Inextinguishable Symphony takes us from the cafés of Frankfurt, where Rosemarie and Günther fell in love, to the concert halls that offered solace and hope for the beleaguered Jews, to the United States, where the two made a new life for themselves that would nevertheless remain shadowed by the fate of their families. Here is Günther and Rosemarie’s story, a deeply moving tale of love and the remarkable resilience of the human spirit in the face of terror and persecution.
Along with the fate of Günther and Rosemarie’s families, this rare memoir also illuminates the Kulturbund and the lives of other fascinating figures associated with it, including Kubu director Kurt Singer―a man so committed to the organization that he objected to his artists’ plans for flight, fearing that his productions would suffer. The Kubu, which included some of the most prominent artists of the day and young performers who would gain international fame after the war, became the sole source of culture and entertainment for Germany’s Jews. A poignant testament to the enduring vitality of music and love even in the harshest times, The Inextinguishable Symphony gives us a compelling look at an important piece of Holocaust history that has heretofore gone largely untold.
Registration: The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany — Arizona Jewish Historical Society (azjhs.org)

Online Book Discussion with Author Dan Grunfeld: By the Grace of the Game: The Holocaust, a Basketball Legacy and an Unprecedented American Dream
2023-02-15 17:00
By the Grace of the Game:
The Holocaust, a Basketball Legacy and an Unprecedented American Dream
Feb 15th @ 5:00 pm MST
Register: https://tinyurl.com/mr3ebppa
Dan Grunfeld is 3rd Generation Holocaust Descendant, a former professional basketball player, an accomplished writer, and a proud graduate of Stanford University. Join us when he discusses his family’s multi-generational epic detailing history’s only known journey from Auschwitz to the NBA. From the grips of the Nazis to the top of the Olympic podium, from the cheap seats to center stage at Madison Square Garden, from yellow stars to silver spoons, this complex tale traverses the spectrum of the human experience to detail how perseverance, love, and legacy can survive through generations, carried on the shoulders of a simple and beautiful game.

Holding onto the Hate Let the Haters Win
2023-02-24 10:00 - 12:00
Friday, February 24, 2023, 10AM-12PM (MST)
Featured Guest: Holocaust Survivor, Andrew Schot
Andrew Schot was 9 years old in 1940 when the Germans invaded the Netherlands. He was almost two years younger than Anne Frank and about 5 years younger than her sister Margot.
Jewish students were banned from educational institutions, forced into smaller Jews only schools, this is where Andrew met Anne and through Anne, her sister Margot. While Andrew did not grow up in a Jewish home and was not considered a Jew according to Jewish Law (Andrew’s father was Jewish, his mother was not), Andrew was labeled a full blooded Jew by the anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws. He was forced to wear a yellow star and recalls a sign in a store window: “No Jews allowed when humans are on the premises”.
His father, after receiving a relocation notice, went into hiding, returning to his home on weekends. He was caught and Andrew later found out he was taken to Bergen-Belsen. Andrew and his sister who was six years older, went into hiding, explaining to their mother that it would be better for all if they left. After surviving on the run for two years, careful to never stay in one place for more than a day, they were caught, loaded into trucks then cattle cars, separated from one another, Andrew’s sister’s train went to Dachau, Andrew’s was destined for Bergen-Belsen.
After liberation Andrew made his way to the United States, where was drafted into the U.S. Army, later transferring to the Air Force where he served for 26 years. Andrew didn’t tell anyone — including his wife and kids — about his own family’s World War II tragedy until the mid 90s. Since then Andrew has spoken to countless students, adults, military, and every graduating class of the Tucson Police Department. Andrew shares the importance of speaking up against prejudice and greed, not forgetting but also not permitting hate to have a role in his life.
REGISTER: https://www.azjhs.org/holocaust-survivor-conversations

Online Discussion Miriam Friedmann
2023-03-08 17:00
Witness—The Art Legacy of Holocaust Survivor
David Friedman
Wednesday, March 8
5:00pmMST
Registration: https://tinyurl.com/28ss88ve
Please join PHA for an online discussion with Miriam Friedman
Miriam Friedman Morris will talk about her father, David Friedman’s life through art and her
journey to find his Nazi-looted art and preserve her father’s legacy. Austrian born David
Friedman(n) 1893-1980 was a Holocaust survivor whose drawings of persecution gave him
purpose to fight antisemitism and racial hatred. An accomplished painter, he was renowned
for his portraits drawn from life and leading Berlin press artist of the 1920’s. Friedman’s life’s
work was Nazi-looted and his promising career was destroyed. He survived the Lodz Ghetto and Auschwitz to paint again

A Twist of Fate
2023-03-24 10:00 - 12:00
Friday, March 24, 2022 – 10AM-12PM (MST)
SPEAKER: Karen Zubkoff Perna

Karen Perna, a descendant of Holocaust survivors, is fortunate enough to have known her great-grandparents and grandparents, who fled Germany with her mother and aunt to escape the darkest days of human history, arriving in the US in March 1940. Karen has had a lifelong desire to share her family’s history to enrich others not only about the Holocaust, but also about genocides still happening in our world today. Karen found the Phoenix Holocaust Association (PHA) and realized the organization aligns with her beliefs. She feels honored to serve on the PHA Board, as Coordinator of the PHA Speakers Bureau (arranging Holocaust speakers for schools and other organizations), and as a 2G (second generation of a Holocaust survivor) speaker.
Register: https://www.azjhs.org/our-parents-stories

David de Jong talks about his book, Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany’s Wealthiest Dynasties
2023-04-03 17:00 - 19:00
Please join us for an online discussion with author David de Jong on Monday April 3, 2023 5 pm MST (8 pm EST, 7 pm CST)
A groundbreaking investigation of how Germany’s wealthiest men helped the Nazis grab power and how the Nazis helped German tycoons make billions off the horrors of the Third Reich and World War II. In this landmark work of investigative journalism, David de Jong reveals the true story of how Germany’s wealthiest business dynasties amassed untold money and power by abetting the atrocities of the Third Reich. De Jong shows how these tycoons seized Jewish businesses, procured slave laborers, and ramped up weapons production to equip Hitler’s army as Europe burned around them. The brutal legacy of the dynasties that dominated Daimler-Benz, cofounded Allianz, and still control Porsche, Volkswagen, and BMW has remained hidden in plain sight.
Registration: https://tinyurl.com/m32fe35e

Yom HaShoah Commemoration 2023
2023-04-16 15:00 - 17:00 | Congregation Beth Israel, 10460 N 56th St, Scottsdale, AZ, 85253
Phoenix Holocaust Association Invites the Community to
Holocaust Remembrance
Yom HaShoah Commemoration
Nissan 25, 5783
Sunday, April 16 at 3 pm
Congregation Beth Israel
10460 N 56th St, Scottsdale, AZ 85253
Registration: https://phoenixhsa.formstack.com/forms/2023_yom_hashoah_rsvp
We will honor the memory of those who perished during the Holocaust and recognize those who survived. Visitors will select one of two concurrent sessions which will be followed by a commemoration program including a procession of survivors, candle lighting in memory of the 6 million, presenting the Shofar Zakhor Awards to recognize those who educate the community about the Holocaust, and musical pieces organized by Cantor Seth Ettinger.
Concurrent sessions preceding program:
Making an Emotional Connection to the Holocaust: Reflections of local survivors
or
Close Quarters: Victims and Perpetrators Sharing the Kitchen in Postwar Germany
Margarete Myers Feinstein, PhD, Loyola Marymount University
*Click Link to Download Flyer
Community wide Yom HaShoah flyer white

He Survived 10 Camps and Married an Underground Operative
2023-05-17 17:00
Online Discussion with Anna Salton Eisen
Wednesday May 17, 2023 5pm AZ, 8pm EST, and 5pm PST
Registration: https://tinyurl.com/mr46m3jm
Anna Salton Eisen will share the stories of her two Holocaust survivor parents, George and Ruth Salton. In her dynamic, multimedia presentation, Anna travels with her family back to Poland to uncover their secrets – George, as a survivor of ten concentration camps in Poland, Germany, and France; and Ruth, a witness to the German invasion of Warsaw in September 1939 and later an underground operative for the Bricha movement. Through her father’s original Holocaust artwork (housed at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Yad Vashem) and her archival research as an Ambassador to the Arolsen Archives, Anna searches for and discovers the children of her father’s fellow concentration camp prisoners and several of his American liberators and shares these emotional reunions.

Living in Many Worlds
2023-09-22 10:00 - 12:00
From our partner, Arizona Jewish Historical Society

Friday, September 22, 2023 at 10AM (MST)

SPEAKER: 2G and PHA Vice President Eva Flaster

Eva Flaster is the daughter of two Holocaust survivors. Her father, Chune
Flaster, was born in December of 1912 in Nowy Sacz, a city in the
Carpathian Mountains of Poland. He loved the mountains and enjoyed
the outdoors, skiing, and hiking. He lived at home with his mother and his
two siblings until he enlisted in the Polish Army. When the Germans
attacked, the Polish Army only lasted three weeks. The Poles disbanded,
and he moved eastwards and was captured by the Russians who
invaded Poland from the East. They sent him to a gulag in the frigid,
frigid north of Russia. The Russians released him in 1941and he fought
the Nazis for a second time.
Meanwhile, Eva’s mom, Genia Nordon, was born in Sosnowiec
(Southwestern) Poland in 1924. She lived with her parents and three
siblings. She was four days shy of her fifteenth birthday when the war
began. The Nazis removed them from their home and forced them into a
less desirable apartment. Life was exceedingly difficult, and food was
scarce. Jews were no longer allowed to go to school. The family was
moved one more time in1942. This time to a sealed ghetto.
From 1939 to 1942, Genia often hid her star with a purse and tried to
barter for food for the family. In 1942, the Nazis captured her, and she
became a slave laborer in a chemical plant. In January of 1945, the
Nazis knew they were losing the war. They removed prisoners from the
camps and took them on the “death march” to erase all evidence of the
concentration camps. During the “death march,” Genia tried to escape by
jumping from a moving train. The Nazis recaptured her, and she went
through a series of prisons, and eventually, she wound up in the small
fortress at Terezin.
Two years after the war, thanks to a family friend also living in the
American sector of Germany, Chune and Genia met each other. They
dated, got engaged and married in 1948. Eva was born the following
year in the same Displaced Persons’ camp in Landsberg Am Lech.
Please join us on Sept. 22, when Eva will share more about her parents’
story and growing up as the child of survivors.
Registration: Arizona Jewish Historical Society — AZJHS Our Parent’s Stories
