Memories of the Holocaust evoke great sadness. So many people disappeared. So many families never had the chance to grow. So much horror and sorrow. Imagine being a six-year-old child and your mother says you must leave the only home you ever knew to go to a new country. As adults, most of us would be anxious, maybe even frightened.
It’s been a few years since I first posted this video of my daughter Caitlin interviewing my mother about her immigration experience in 1938. The video is about 9 minutes and 45 seconds long. It’s not the best recording – my son-in-law, Andy, helped me connect the old video camera to the TV, and then I used a newer one to record it—but it does the job. (You can see me in the TV reflection at the very end!!)
It is important to remember what happened during the Holocaust. Many people say we observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day so we Never Forget—so it never happens again, I think it’s also important to remember how the events shaped people’s lives. Maybe the gift of time allowed her to look back on that part of her life with gratitude. Either way, it gives me peace knowing that after 60 years, she was able to reconcile the difficulties her family encountered and be grateful for her life in the United States.
You can read more about my family’s Holocaust experience in my upcoming novel, Nothing Really Bad Will Happen, Be sure to subscribe to this blog to be notified when the book is released,
"Nothing Really Bad Will Happen" 