Gert expresses his gratitude towards Chinese people and emphasizes that Shanghai served his family as a place of refuge during the war.

Stefan speaks of his arrest by the Gestapo in his place of birth, Torun, Poland. Stefan relates how he was interrogated, brutally beaten and subsequently imprisoned as a result of an intimate letter he wrote to an Austrian soldier in German uniform. View his entire testimony at http://vhaonline.usc.edu/login.aspx  

In Soviet-occupied Dubienka, Poland, located by the Bug River and on the border with Ukraine, Sam Szor remembers the military fortification by German armed forces in anticipation of the upcoming invasion of the Soviet Union. He describes the invasion, which took place in the dawn of the morning hours of June 22, 1941. It was his birthday. He recalls the retreat of the Soviet armed forces and the resulting fear felt by the Jewish population with the German occupation of Dubienka.

Celina Biniaz, a “Schindler Jew,” remembers hearing about the end of the war while listening to an underground radio at the munitions factory set up by Oskar Schindler in the Brünnlitz concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. The Brünnlitz concentration camp was liberated by the Soviet armed forces in May 1945. With the approach of the Soviets, Oskar Schindler left and arranged for several of the camp personnel to leave as well. Celina Biniaz remembers her liberation and describes her liberators.

Marion Pritchard recalls bringing up the topic of homosexuality at the dinner table and how her father took her aside to discuss the importance of tolerance. She passed away in 2016 at the age of 96. Read our tribute to her.

Beatrice Becker speaks of the dangerous conditions facing the Jews of Iasi, Romania in late June 1941 when Romania entered the war as an ally of Germany. Days later, on Jun 29th, the Jews of Iasi were rounded up by Romanian and German military units. Beatrice heard screams and shooting coming from the direction of the main police headquarters. Beatrice and her parents were rounded up and  were marched toward the police station’s courtyard, where German soldiers concentrated the Jews of Iasi. The family saw many corpses along the way.  Beatrice and her mother were allowed to return home.

A simulation of New Dimensions technology as it may appear in a classroom environment.

Gerda Haas was aware of her upcoming deportation from Berlin, Germany, as of 1942, but was not placed on the deportation list until Mar 17, 1943. She and many other deportees were  first assembled on the Grosse-Hamburger Strasse deportation center and deportation by train took place a few days later. Gerda relates she felt lucky to be sent to the Theresienstadt ghetto in Czechoslovakia and believes it was due to her profession as a nurse.

In celebration of the United States’ Independence Day, the holiday that honors the nation’s birth with the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, we share a clip from the testimony of Holocaust survivor Israel Baicher. Israel describes immigrating to the United States as his happiest day and recounts the wonderful life he and his wife successfully built together.

Nechama remembers being taken from her home with her parents to the nearby Seventh Fort, a military fortification in Kaunas, Lithuania, in 1941. She and her mother were released shortly thereafter and allowed to return home. Her father, however, remained in the Fort and witnessed the mass killings of Jewish men by German soldiers and the Lithuanian police. Nechama explains how her father was able to survive the mass killings at the time.

Eva speaks of her gratitude to China and the Chinese people.  She explains that despite the hardships related to the refugee experience, her family was able to survive the Holocaust in Shanghai and move on to create a new life in Australia.

Irma speaks fondly of her life in Chongqing, while she lived in China as a German Jewish refugee during the war.

John reflects on the historical reasons of the anti-refugee sentiment he experienced from the local population while living in China as a German Jewish refugee during the war.

Hermine talks about the medical assistance she received from a local Chinese woman when she, a Jewish refugee from Germany, lived in the Hongkew Ghetto in Shanghai during the war.

Gert expresses his gratitude toward Chinese people and explains that Shanghai served his family as a place of refuge during the war.

Gert describes the community established by Jewish refugees from Germany upon their arrival in China on the eve of World War II. He remembers the living conditions in Shanghai and mentions the Hongkew Ghetto formed in the city by the occupying Japanese authorities in 1943.

Eva reflects on the living conditions she had as a child living in Shanghai, China, during the war and discusses her daily activities.

Fred speaks of his enrollment in the Shanghai Jewish School and describes the education he received while living as a German Jewish refugee in China during the war.

While reminiscing on the Jewish life in Shanghai, Eva talks about the customs and observances her family maintained while living as German Jewish refugees in China, and discusses synagogue attendance.  She  recollects social and cultural activities in the local community.