Grossman Family
Rivka (née Kleinman) Grossman and Mordechai Gimpel Grossman were our parents. Our family lived in the bucolic village of Mad in northeastern Hungary, in the wine country near the Carpathian Mountains--about 100 kilometers north of Debrecen.
Behind Every Name a Story: The Grossman Family of Mad, Hungary (Part 1) »
Barbara Rebhun
I was found in either an empty train wagon, or close to the rail station, by a Red Cross attendant in the little town of Milanówek, about 20 kilometers from Warsaw.
Behind Every Name a Story: Barbara Rebhun »
Joseph Moses Lang
It began in May 1944 when my family and I were told to pack whatever we could carry and we were placed, along with many others, in an old factory building in Targu Muresh, Romania.
Behind Every Name a Story: Joseph Moses Lang »
Miroslav (Fred) Grunwald
As the German army pushed southward, taking over from the Italians, all occupied Adriatic territory, I was suddenly again on the run and in hiding. But this time I was not so lucky.
Behind Every Name a Story: Miroslav Grunwald's Memories, Introduction »
Irene Safran
My journey to Auschwitz-Birkenau began on May 19, 1944 when I boarded the train with my parents, three younger sisters and two brothers.
Behind Every Name a Story—Irene Safran: Deportation to Auschwitz »
Jakob Blankitny
It was winter and the cold burned us; all the camp was flooded and muddy. They took our winter clothes and in exchange, gave us light clothes that looked like striped pajamas.
Behind Every Name a Story: Jakob Blankitny »
En español »
Irene (Blász) Csillag
I was born in 1925 in Satu Mare, which was in Romania at that time but in 1940, became part of Hungary. We were four in our family: my mother, father, and one sister, Olga, who also survived and is still living.
Behind Every Name a Story: Irene (Blász) Csillag »
Haya Friedman
Marius was the only “humane” being I met during the terrible days of deportation. On a snowy November day in 1944 at Auschwitz ( I was 19 years old), they called us together and crammed us again into railcars, 80 girls in a railcar that was meant for eight horses and sent us away -- we didn’t know where, of course.
Behind Every Name a Story: Haya Friedman »
Pieter (Peter) Kohnstam
The chapter “Fleeing Amsterdam” from A Chance to Live by Pieter Kohnstam is printed with permission from the author. The chapter is written through the eyes of Pieter’s father, Hans Stefan Kohnstam, who was 39 years old when this chapter occurred.
Behind Every Name a Story—Pieter (Peter) Kohnstam: Fleeing Amsterdam »
Agnes Gertrude Wohl
My name is Agnes Gertrude Wohl (maiden name Mendelovits), born in Budapest, Hungary, on March 3, 1933.
Behind Every Name a Story: Agnes (Mendelovits) Wohl »
Heinz Raphael
“…I am asking you to leave as soon as possible… Ask your friends to see to the packing and the despatch of your belongings, but you yourselves should leave at once… Do not hesitate to travel even on the Shabbat!…”
Behind Every Name a Story: Zeev (Heinz) Raphael »
Mara Ginic
“My throat was parched, the wind blew my hair in my face and obstructed my vision. My knees buckled and the glacier never seemed to end.”
Behind Every Name a Story: Mara Ginic »
Manya Friedman
“I had little confidence when I started. My hands were so shaky I could barely read my own writing. As I started writing, I was given confidence, support, and encouragement. If I can do this, then you can too.”
Behind Every Name a Story: Manya Moszkowicz »
Manya Friedman’s Memory Project »
Manya Friedman’s biography »
Miriam (Rot) Eshel
“The man photographed us and after a few days he brought the picture … My mother said to us: ‘We will bury the picture…’” Miriam recovered the photograph and sent a copy to the Survivors Registry together with her registration form…
Behind Every Name a Story—Miriam (Rot) Eshel: Part I, Introduction »
The Museum’s Registry of Holocaust Survivors seeks survivors to participate in the Behind Every Name A Story (BENAS) web project.
The BENAS web project consists of essays describing survivors’ experiences during the Holocaust. The Museum will select essays to be posted on its web site. We encourage all survivors to share their unique experiences to ensure their recognition and preservation for future generations. This is another way the Museum helps survivors to add significantly to Holocaust remembrance. Please see our selection criteria below.
The Museum honors as survivors any persons, Jewish or non-Jewish, who were displaced, persecuted, or discriminated against due to the racial, religious, ethnic, social, and political policies of the Nazis and their collaborators between 1933 and 1945. In addition to former inmates of concentration camps, ghettos, and prisons, this definition includes, among others, people who were refugees or were in hiding.
The essays, accompanying photographs, and other materials (including submissions that we are unable to feature on our Web site) will become a permanent part of the Museum’s records.
Essays should be submitted using this online form. Survivors’ relatives can submit entries on their behalf.
If you would like to participate in this project, please follow the steps below before submitting your entry. The Registry staff will follow these criteria when processing all entries.
Remember that the essays, accompanying photographs, and other materials (including submissions that we are unable to feature on our Web site) will become a permanent part of the Museum’s records.
For additional information please contact:
Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center
Registry of Holocaust Survivors
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW
Washington, DC 20024-2126
E-mail: registry@ushmm.org
Tel.: (202) 488-6130
Fax: (202) 314-7820
