When Is a Pen More than a Pen?
Of all the mementos—either already or soon-to-be artifacts at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum—the pen and I have a special relationship that I am reluctant to end.
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Tears
I visited the Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names in Amsterdam soon after it opened.
Stolpersteine
For many years, our dear friend Johanna Neumann encouraged me to place what are called Stolpersteine or “stumbling stones” at the home where my family lived in The Hague, Netherlands.
Spring: A Time of Renewal and Hope
Even late in my mother’s life when she lived in an assisted-living facility, she’d look out the window, point at the trees, and smile as she noticed the emergence of spring and her favorite color: “young green.”
Disquieting Pictures
A small black-and-white photograph has suddenly taken on a heartbreaking new significance.
Dini
Dini Polak is a lively Dutch woman in her mid-80s who has a debilitating muscle and balance disorder that has kept her in a wheelchair and homebound for ten years, but whose social media presence alone testifies to her avid interest in world affairs, politics, and literature.
A Family Photograph
This is one of about a hundred photographs of my family that survived the Holocaust and that have allowed me a glimpse of life before the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands and before I was born.
A Mother’s Lesson for Life
Six months ago, in mid-2023, I suddenly lost much of my hearing. Thanks to the care of my physicians and audiologists, the condition has improved. Still, it has been a life-changing event, which at times has left me anxious and sometimes almost despondent.
Becoming Who I Am
My mother’s oft-repeated axiom to me was, “Remember the good, forget the bad.” Undoubtedly, that is how she willed herself to move on with life after the Nazis robbed her of a husband and two daughters.
Mima
Sadly, I have no personal memories of Mima. All I know about her comes from countless photographs of an always serious looking dark-skinned woman with her sleek black hair almost always combed back into a bun, of a few words of Mima’s native languages, Maleis, of a taste for Indonesian cooking, and, of course from the many stories about her that my foster siblings, Dewie, Wille, and Robby, shared with me.
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Survivor Reflections and Testimonies
Listen to or read Holocaust survivors’ experiences, told in their own words through oral histories, written testimony, and public programs.