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.

Survivor Gad Ben-Meir recalls the Baghdad Pogrom of June 1-2, 1941, during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, and what he saw looking out his window as a 9-year-old boy.

Sarah Ditman remembers witnessing the occupation of Paris, her city of birth, when the German armed forces invaded France on June 14, 1940. She recalls with sadness that as a young woman, she watched out her window as German soldiers were marching down the Champs-Elysées.

Eva describes the patterns of relationships among the inhabitants of the Hongkew ghetto in Shanghai, China and focuses on the friendships she and her family had formed while retaining their humanity under difficult circumstances.

Henry describes his flight from Berlin, Germany, to Shanghai, China, in summer 1940 and recalls the family members he left behind.