First Person: Conversations with Holocaust Survivors

For two and a half years of her early childhood, Louise Lawrence-Israëls never once played outside or felt the grass under her feet. Louise was born into a Jewish family in 1942 during Nazi Germany’s occupation of the Netherlands. When she was just a baby, her parents moved the family into hiding in an attic in Amsterdam. They lived under the constant threat of discovery, denunciation, and deportation, endured air raids, and often had very little to eat. Despite all this, Louise's mother and father tried to give her as normal a childhood as possible. Watch to learn more about Louise’s secret life in an attic.

The next First Person conversation with a Holocaust survivor will be available to watch on Wednesday, September 17, 2025.

Marking 25 years, First Person is a monthly, hour-long live interview between journalist Bill Benson and a Holocaust survivor on the Museum’s YouTube page, and it includes questions from the audience. This program is made possible through generous support from the Louis Franklin Smith Foundation.