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Brooklyn, NY 11214
Phone: 718-331-6800
The personal story of each Holocaust survivor is unique and individual. This section is devoted to some of our members and gives them an opportunity to read their stories and watch short films, where they describe their individual experiences. They share their memories about life in the ghettos, the experience of being a slave laborer, life in hiding and fighting against Nazis as a solder or partisan.
To read the individual story and watch the video, please click on a survivor to go to his/her page and learn his/her story.
Each page contains a brief life story and film. To watch the film, click the “play” button.
Yevgeniya Lebedeva was born on February 19, 1922 in the town of Pavlograd, Ukraine to the parents of Lev Lebedeva and his wife Faina. Yevgeniya’s father was a pharmacist and her parents had two boys and two girls. In 1925, her family tried to move to Tashkent, Uzbekistan where many of their [...]
Irina was born on June 2, 1931 and lived in Leningrad with her older sister and two parents that had both come from large families. Irina’s parents had a clothing business and even though her mother was not educated, she was talented at sewing clothing. Irinia’s father worked in construction. [...]
Zhanna was born in Odessa, Ukraine, on September 13, 1930. When WWII broke out, her family was living in Odessa. Her father Semyon Blinshteyn was drafted in the first days of the war. Zhanna’s mother Velya with three children remained in Odessa. At the beginning of the war, the family lost many [...]
Vladimir Gordon was born on January 21, 1924 in a little village in Gradizhsk, Poltavsky Oblast, Ukraine and due to communism, there were no Jewish traditions or religion in his family’s household. Vladimir’s father was hardworking and participated in the Red Army. Soon after completing the [...]
History interview with Lyubov Abramovich by United States Holocaust Memorial Museum > Lyubov Abramovich was from a Jewish family in a small city in Belarus that followed Jewish traditions such as going to synagogue, lighting candles on Friday night, and observing the Sabbath. Lyubov finished [...]
Isabella was born on July 14, 1937 and she was only 4 years old when the Leningrad siege occurred. Isabella’s father was an artist and director of the Leningrad Art House. He was 56 during the war and was exempt from the army due to poor vision. Isabella’s mother was 17 years younger and [...]
Maria was born on December 25, 1922 in Belarus (Poland technically) and had a calm and normal childhood where her parents owned a large store. The family was not very religious and followed only some major traditions such as Rosh Hashanah. The family spoke Polish and Yiddish in the home. In the [...]
Saveliy Kaplinsky was born on September 18, 1929 in Minsk, Belarus and lived with his family in a small house with his four siblings. He had friendly relationships with his neighbors before WWII began. Kaplinsky did not receive any Jewish education, however both of his brothers did. Kapinsky’s [...]
Riva was born on July 28, 1933 in Leningrad and her parents were from Belarus. Riva’s family had little Jewish traditions and they lived in an apartment with various other families. She had a great childhood before the war and an older brother whom she was very close with. Since both of Riva’s [...]
Sonya was born on April 14, 1929. Sonya lived in a large house with many rooms and a big yard, in a small village called Illyintzi. Sonya’s brother, Shunya, was four years older than her but they had a close relationship and were inseparable, especially because they were often left together at [...]