My Mother was born in Vienna, Austria, on May 20, 1920. She had a wonderful childhood with loving parents and a playful sister. She had a Governess who taught her French and she also learned piano, sewing, crocheting, knitting, embroidery and needlepoint. She could take an inexpensive dress and make it look beautiful and expensive looking! She was a champion swimmer at the Hakoah Sports Club, an institution that once produced olympic champions for Austria. There is a documentary called "Watermarks" about the Hakoah and Austrian Anti-Semitism. Her family belonged to the Stadttempel on Judenplatz in Vienna.

The Nazi Party came to power in Germany in 1933. Adolph Hitler made plans to incorporate his homeland (Austria) into the German state. Then came the Anschluss on March 12, 1938 - the forced union of Austria with Germany. Her Father's business was confiscated! Because they were Jewish, the sisters were not allowed to continue their schooling or any other activities - they had to wear a yellow Jewish star on all their clothing. My Mother had to scrub the sidewalks on Stephansplatz with a toothbrush on Kristallnacht. Her Father was taken to a riding academy (Tattersal) with other men and had to run around like a horse while being whipped! He collapsed and someone brought him home. He was a diabetic and after that, he was very sick and so was her Mother from fear!

In 1939, my Mother found an envelope with a return address of an American man in New York. She wrote to him and asked for two visas - one for her and one for her sister. The man was superstitious and, because he had the same birthday as my Mother, he sent two visas to her. Her sister was sent to Holland with a Kindertransport where she lived with foster parents who were not Jewish but cared for her.

My Mother went to pick up her sister, Marianne, in Amsterdam where she was hiding and they then went to catch their boat. The Nazi's refused to let Marianne board the boat because she was only 14 years-old so the sisters said their goodbyes and Marianne went back to the couple who cared for her. There, she found that they had hung themselves because Hitler had marched into Holland and they were afraid that the Nazis would discover that they were hiding a Jewish child. She didn't know what to do so she went back to Vienna.

My Mother continued on her voyage on the Rotterdam Vollendam and arrived at Ellis Island from Amsterdam on January 1, 1940. She had to be there for three days because the man who sent her the visas forgot to pick her up! When he finally did pick her up, he asked if she had any money and she said she did not - he gave her $10 which she paid him back when she could. She found a job and a place to live and met my Father (who was also from Vienna) at the Viennese Cafe in New York City.

They got married on September 7, 1941. They worked hard and lived in a one-bedroom apartment on the first floor and had to call their friends upstairs because they couldn't see anything out of their windows! I was born almost 1 1/2 years after that and my brother was born 3 years after me. Then, they decided to get a bigger apartment on Bennett Avenue in Washington Heights. In 1952 my parents bought a house in Yonkers and they loved inviting family and friends all the time. My Mother had a flair for entertaining beautifully with delicious meals that everyone enjoyed.

She belonged to B'nai Brith, the JCC, was a volunteer who danced with Veterans and was a Girl Scout Leader. She travelled with my Father for business and pleasure trips. They were happily married for 50 years before my Father's death in 1991. He lived long enough to enjoy his 5 grandchildren but missed out on enjoying 11 great-grandchildren who were yet to come. My Mother lost her whole family in the Holocaust but she haas 25 immediate family members that love her very much!

After my Father died, my Mother continued living on her own in an apartment in Scarsdale, NY until she couldn't drive a car anymore at age 88. She moved into an assisted living facility where she was happy and loved by everyone. She lived there about 9 years until she had a stroke and then moved to a nursing home in Bridgeport, CT called Jewish Senior Services. She will be 100 years-old this year on May 20th!

About 13 years ago, my friend's daughter, the author Alyson Richman, weaved a little bit of my Mother's story into her book
called "The Lost Wife". My Mother was invited to Alyson's book signing in New York City and felt like a celebrity when Alyson acknowledged her. The book might be made into a movie and my Mom asked if Meryl Streep would play her part in the book!

About 14 years ago, the Red Cross notified us that my Mother's parents and sister were taken from Austria by train (#39) on August 31, 1942, to a place called Maly Trostinac, near Minsk, Russia, where the Nazis dug pits and then shot them dead on September 4, 1942. She had tried to find them and never knew what happened to them - now she has closure.

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