Holocaust Lesson Plans

A Fateful Letter

Long, long ago, it was sensational to receive a letter. We used to wait for the mailman impatiently. A letter could change plans, change lives, and fates.

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.

To Feel Beloved

The Auschwitz Memorial

My First Few Days in the States

The first person to come to the United States from my family was my elder sister Jacqueline, who was hired by the United Nations as a secretary. It was in 1953. I was not even 15, and it made me dream of America, which I had discovered through movies, like How to Marry a Millionaire, with the beautiful skyline of New York City and Marylin Monroe.

My Most Memorable Letters

The blue aerograms, bleached by age, tied with a bow, take up a lot of room in a dresser drawer and in my heart. Physically, they weigh very little, but their emotional impact on my life is tremendous.

My Journey to America

Once, when I was a very young girl in Poland, I got lost walking with my aunt in the forest. “Are we in America?” I asked her. America was the farthest place on earth for a child my age.

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.

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.

Last Night I Dreamt of My Father

Last night I dreamt of my father. He was not my father as I remembered him. He was another man, and yet my father. His face and clothes were from another time, Another place.