My mother tells how Heinz Lichtenstern, her father, escaped a transport to Auschwitz in 1944. Notified that he, along with all men aged 16 to 55 then in Theresienstadt, would be leaving soon, he had said his tearful goodbyes to his family. At the transport, before boarding, Heinz once again showed the family’s Paraguayan passport. … Continue reading Searching for Stories
Our guide, Jiri, picked us up at our hotel. After a few minutes of introductions and small talk we climbed into his minivan and headed to Terezín. The drive there from Prague was about 45 minutes, and I used the time to explain to Jiri that my mother and her family were prisoners in Theresienstadt … Continue reading On the Way to Terezín
Yesterday I went to Boston to see the Central Square Theater production of Brundibar & But the Giraffe! The original opera was written in 1938 by a Czech composer, Hans Krasa with a libretto by Adolf Hoffmeister. Krasa, a Jew, was imprisoned at Theresienstadt and later murdered in Auschwitz. Hoffmeister survived the war, but died … Continue reading Bigotry, Bullies and Brundibar
When I went out to dump some kitchen scraps into the compost bin a few weeks ago I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. There were several tall leafy plants topped with delicate purple flowers. I had no idea what they were and so proceeded to look them up on the internet. I found a … Continue reading Treasure in the Compost Bin
I was playing around on a genealogy website and I came across an interesting discovery: Anne Frank is my second great uncle's uncle's wife's sister's husband's nephew's wife's first cousin once removed's wife's great-niece. Now, I wasn't sure I believed this so I took out paper and pen and drew out the family connection. Here … Continue reading Connecting to Anne Frank
During the school year there is a certain rhythm to my life. The day starts with getting my youngest and sometimes my bonus-son up and out the door for school. There is the 45 minute round trip in dropping them off and then getting home to a quiet house. Being a morning person I can … Continue reading Rhythms of Writing
Yesterday the State of Connecticut held its 35th Holocaust Remembrance Commemoration. My mother was the keynote speaker. Instead of writing about it, I'll let mom speak for herself. The video of the entire ceremony is a little over an hour. Mom is speaking for about 20 minutes starting at the 32 minute mark. Spoiler alert: … Continue reading Way to Go, Mom!
To Lloyd Miller, US Army, was stationed in Plzen Czech in the spring/summer of 1945. Dear Mr. Miller: I have tried to find you several times to thank you for your service and your kindness while at the Displaced Persons camp. My mother, a 10 y.o. girl with red hair, was liberated on May 8, … Continue reading Thanking Lloyd Miller
This summer when I started this project in earnest, I began with an internet search. I simply started by Googling various family members' names and followed any leads I came across. I spent a few evenings in a very unscientific search through cyberspace and came across something that I thought was startling. My grandfather's name … Continue reading The Eichmann Trial
