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Adoption Month: From Strangers to Family

Virtual Event
Esther (second from left), with the British family who took her in. Left to right: Alan, Dot, and Harry Harrison. USHMM, gift of Esther Rosenfeld Starobin

Esther (second from left), with the British family who took her in. Left to right: Alan, Dot, and Harry Harrison. USHMM, gift of Esther Rosenfeld Starobin

A notice on the shoe factory’s bulletin board prompted the British couple to volunteer. They knew little; a Jewish child fleeing Nazi Germany needed a safe home. What began as a good deed blossomed into bonds that lasted a lifetime. When Harry and Dot Harrison greeted two-year-old Esther on their doorstep, they never imagined that over eight years she would become like a daughter to them. Join us as we commemorate Adoption Month with the story of Holocaust survivor Esther Starobin.

Guest
Esther Starobin, Holocaust Survivor and Museum Volunteer

Host
Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Watch live at facebook.com/holocaustmuseum. You do not need a Facebook account to view our program. After the live broadcast, the recording will be available to watch on demand on the Museum’s Facebook and YouTube pages.

This episode was made possible in part by the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation.

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Related

  • Esther Rosenfeld Starobin

    In June 1939, Esther was sent to England on the Kindertransport. She arrived in London and was met by a woman from the Quaker society who escorted her from London to Thorpe, Norwich, about 100 miles away from London. There, she met the family who would keep her safe.

    Learn More
  • Kindertransport

    Kindertransport (Children's Transport) was the informal name of a series of rescue efforts between 1938 and 1940. These rescue efforts brought thousands of refugee children, the vast majority of them Jewish, to Great Britain from Nazi Germany.

    Learn More
  • Children during the Holocaust

    Children were especially vulnerable to Nazi persecution. Some were targeted on supposed racial grounds, such as Jewish youngsters. Others were targeted for biological reasons, such as patients with physical or mental disabilities, or because of their alleged resistance or political activities. As many as 1.5 million Jewish children alone were murdered or died at the hands of Nazi officials or their collaborators.

    Learn More
  • Rosenfeld Family Collection

    This correspondence consists of letters written to the Harrison family, the family who cared for Esther Rosenfeld, including a letter dated June 26, 1939 notifying the Harrisons that Esther arrived in London. The letter dated July 12, 1947 was written by Esther’s uncle, Sali Rosenfeld and relates the family’s appreciation for their care of Esther and the family’s desire to have the Rosenfeld siblings reunited in the United States.

    Learn More