Moments of Great Joy
I remember three moments of great joy in my life. The first one was the day we were liberated.
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Read reflections and testimonies written by Holocaust survivors in their own words.
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A Trip to a Dream Beach, 1951
My mother pined for the Adriatic Sea. Everything in that sea was so much better than the sea off the coast of Tel Aviv.
Gymnasialstrasse 11
After our father lost his linen store, we had to move from the house where we had lived contentedly and peacefully. The store had been boycotted by the Nazis at the beginning of the Holocaust. In fact, we had to move several times to different areas so that we could afford to reside in our town. Our last apartment before leaving Germany was at Gymnasialstrasse 11 in Bad Kreuznach.
How I Learned to Drive
As long as I could remember, I had always wished to learn to drive and, of course, to own a car. But I would be well into adulthood before this happened. When I was 13 years old, we—my father, mother, sister, and I—settled in England. We had survived the Holocaust and were trying to restart our lives. England was very different from Poland, but we were free and looked forward to a better future.
The Child Who Thought She Knew Better and the Gold Bag
I wanted to help my mother, you see, and at the same time to establish a certain authority about myself.
The Price I Paid for Survival
Our feelings are always there—waiting, attuned, alert, and yearning for attachment. So we were created. Such is the path of our lives.
My Complicated College Career
My two best subjects in high school in Poland were biology and chemistry, so it is no wonder that I decided to study pharmacy, a profession that would combine my scientific abilities and my desire to help people.
An Image that Brings Back a Memory
It was the sixth year of the German occupation of Prague—on a Sunday afternoon in June of 1944. On most Sundays, my mother, Zdenka, and I and my mother’s sister, Olga, and her two children, Gerti, age 12, and Robert, age eight, would visit my Catholic grandparents’ apartment in downtown Prague. The two fathers were missing—both were on “business trips.”
My Favorite Task Has Always Been to Be a Tour Guide
My favorite task has always been to be a tour guide. When I was a student, in order to pay for my vacations, I used to offer my services as a tour guide for students in Paris. I did that for several summers and even for spring vacations.
Times Change
The sign at the entrance to the park at Mayo Beach on the Chesapeake Bay revealed that the area was closed for the day. Of course, I was disappointed. It was the fall of 2022 and I had been invited by my friend Donato for lunch to enjoy German food and music for Oktoberfest in a country restaurant near the small town of Edgewater, Maryland, near the Bay. I had not been a great fan of attending German cultural events. However, over time, my attitude had changed.