More than 70 years after the Holocaust, hatred, antisemitism, and genocide still threaten our world. The life stories of Holocaust survivors transcend the decades and remind us of the constant need to be vigilant citizens and to stop injustice, prejudice, and hatred wherever and whenever they occur.
This podcast series features excerpts from 48 interviews with Holocaust survivors conducted at the Museum as part of our First Person public program. Listen to these interview excerpts below. You can also watch video recordings of interviews from our First Person seasons here.
First Person is made possible by generous support from the Louis Franklin Smith Foundation with additional funding from the Arlene and Daniel Fisher Foundation..
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Josiane Traum: Hiding in a Convent in Brugge
April 27, 2010
Josiane (Josy) Traum discusses her memories of life in hiding at a Carmelite convent in Brugge, Belgium. In 1942, as conditions grew increasingly more dangerous for Jews living in German-occupied Belgium, her mother, Fanny, arranged to have Belgian nuns hide her three-year-old daughter in the convent.
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Louise Lawrence-Israëls: First Days of Freedom
June 17, 2009
Louise Lawrence-Israëls discusses her first memories of freedom after over two years spent in hiding with her family in an apartment in Amsterdam. In May 1945, Canadian forces liberated Amsterdam. Louise was three years old and initially had difficulty adjusting to the world outside the apartment, having never been outside for the duration of the hiding.
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Gideon Frieder: Safe Harbor Among a Slovak Family
May 13, 2009
Gideon discusses the time he spent hiding with a Catholic Slovak family. After his mother and sister perished in a German attack at Banska Bystrica, Gideon was rescued by the Slovak partisans and placed with the Strycharszyk family, who went to great lengths to hide and protect him.
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Halina Peabody: Living under a False Identity
March 18, 2009
Halina Peabody discusses living in Jaroslaw, Poland, under false papers identifying her as a Catholic. A local woman took Halina and her mother and sister in and gave them a place to live, while never suspecting they were Jews hiding as Catholics.
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Louise Lawrence-Israëls: A Family’s Efforts to Create a “Normal Life” while in Hiding
June 25, 2008
Louise Lawrence-Israëls shares memories from her early childhood spent hiding in Amsterdam. In 1942, six-month-old Louise and her family went into hiding on the fourth floor of a rowhouse, where they remained until the end of the war in 1945.
