Survival

  • Some people will probably accuse me for using specific words in the title as ‘clickbait’, and to an extend that is true. But anyone who writes a blog, and especially one with an extraordinary story, want readers to click on that link to read that story. I make no excuse for the use of the

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  • Early Life and Marriage Rose Girone, born Rosa Raubvogel on January 13, 1912, in Janów, Poland, lived a life defined by resilience, adaptability, and an unyielding spirit. Growing up in a world on the brink of great change, Rosa’s early years were spent in Janów, a small village in southeastern Poland. Seeking greater opportunities, her

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  • This is the remarkable story of Edith Hahn Beer (Vienna, January 24, 1914 – London, March 17, 2009), an Austrian Jewish woman who survived the Holocaust by adopting a false identity and marrying a member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). Her incredible tale of survival serves as a testament to human resilience and the complexity

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  • Smuggled to Survival

    Henriëtte Pimentel (1876–1943) was the director of the daycare center on Plantage Middenlaan. With a small group of allies, she smuggled approximately 600 Jewish children from the center to safe hiding places. On Tuesday, April 19,2022 the Henriëtte Pimentel Bridge was unveiled. The beautiful bridge over the Mauritskade leading to the Tropenmuseum will officially be

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  • This Isn’t About a Western Film: It’s About a Remarkable WWII Story When I first picked up a guitar, it was because of two towering inspirations: Django Reinhardt and Jim Croce. Django, with his captivating melodies and revolutionary style, made the strings sing in ways I could only dream of. Born in 1910 in Belgium

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  • The Holocaust remains the darkest period in human history. Among the stories of unspeakable horror and loss, there are also tales of survival that seem almost miraculous. One such story is that of Fania Fénelon, a French Jewish musician whose extraordinary life was spared because of her involvement in a concentration camp orchestra. Her story,

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  • A picture tells a thousand words but never tells the full story. Following are the words of some of those who survived the worst crime ever committed, the Holocaust. Toby Biber“This one morning, orders – ‘get out, get out’ – and whatever. By then we only had a few bits belongings – you, we grabbed

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  • My interview with Jackie Young, a Holocaust survivor: Jackie Young (born Jona Spiegel) was born in December 1941 in Vienna, Austria, but raised by adoptive parents in England. He talks about slowly learning about his own past, which his adoptive parents had kept from him despite his own faint memories and hints mentioned by relatives.

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  • Lynn is a psychotherapist and clinical social worker. She is the daughter of two Holocaust survivors. In the interview, we discuss the mental impact her parents’ ordeal had on her and also how that translated into her work as a psychotherapist. She was voted The Best Therapist of 2008 by the Main Line Times newspaper in Pennsylvania,

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  • There is no bond stronger than that between a mother and child. The photograph above appears to be of a mother showing off her beautiful newborn cosily wrapped in a blanket and the smiling, doting mother. However, there is more to this photo. It really is a double miracle—giving birth is a miracle itself is

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