As a kid, I grew up in North Africa as a Jewish woman. Morocco was owned by France for nearly 40 years and I was born during that timeline. Growing up, all the schools were heavily France-influenced because of their imperialization. Most of the topics we learned about were about France and we even had to learn French. I made ... Read More »
Darya Novik (name changed) was raised in Belarus when it was a former Soviet Union state. When asked, she said she had a “pretty ordinary childhood.” She lived in the 2nd largest city in Belarus, went to regular school and music school and grew up playing piano. “Just like everyone else.” Once she ... Read More »
Lubelska to Trakt Lubelski to Słoneczna to Zdrojowa. Every day; Lubelska to Trakt Lubelski to Słoneczna to Zdrojowa. This was the path my great-grandfather took to the local grocery market in Wola Ducka, from his house. Clouds of dirt rose behind him as he cycled into town to get food for dinner. Three miles there, three miles back, every day ... Read More »
Click Here to Listen to the Audio Version As Read by Veronica Tincher, the Daughter of the Szegos, and a Resident of Palo Alto. Veronica Tincher’s parents, Gabor and Ann Szego were Hungarian Jews. Her mother was born in Budapest and her father came from a smaller town, Kunhegyes. Gabor Szego, her father was a bright mathematician and professor in Hungary. ... Read More »
Helga Newman recalls the day in March, 1938 when her family’s life changed forever. She lived with her parents and grandmother in Vienna, Austria and that day she watched through the window as the Nazi army marched into her city. Her father warned her to stay away from the window for her safety. When Hitler, arrived he began creating restrictions ... Read More »
This year marks the 60th Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution. It erupted October 23, 1956 and was brutally suppressed by Soviet troops on November 4th. I escaped with my family to Austria a few weeks later. Within three months, 200,000 Hungarians from a country of 10 million had fled to the West. Many did not make it, shot on the ... Read More »
Recently, my brother Henry Fuchs received a prestigious professional award* and I had the pleasure of attending the ceremony. As I watched him being honored and celebrated by colleagues and students from around the world, I couldn’t help but think, he and I are members of a generation that wasn’t supposed to have been born. How many millions who were ... Read More »
Morrie’s early years were gruesome and filled with fear, but they shaped a man who taught his son to stand down for nothing and stand up for everything. It wasn’t something you see often. Nazi soldiers flooding the streets as Polish residents were called out, manhandled, and forced to their knees. The air was thick with crackling tension, only broken ... Read More »
Lottie Burger left Stuttgart, Germany because of anti-semitism in April 1938 at the age of eight with her mother, father, and grandmother. As there was no port in Germany they traveled first to France to depart, where her grandmother took her underground to see the subway for the first time. They arrived in New York on the Queen Mary and ... Read More »
Fritz Weinberg originally lived in Norden, but moved to Hamburg with his Jewish family, as it was a bigger, safer city to live in. They considered themselves very poor, as they only had two servants, but in fact had enough money to escape later on in life. Fritz had an older brother who was six years older than he, named ... Read More »