Monday, April 12, 2010

Stories of Local Survivors: Frieda S.


In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Week, we will be posting a links to stories of local (Washington State) Holocaust survivors.


Frieda S.


Frieda is standing just to the left of the instructor in the middle of the photo. She is wearing a white shirt.

Why are corners of this photo cut out? Click here to find out about this photo.

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In 1933, the Nazi party was elected in Germany and Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor. Hitler and the Nazi party quickly put into practice their belief that Germans were “racially superior.” Jewish people were not only defined as “inferior,” but became the primary target for Nazi hatred.


On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began. By the end of that same year, Nazi forces occupied Czechoslovakia. For the next 5 years, Nazi forces occupied country after country in Europe.

In 1943, at the age of 14, Frieda was deported to Theresienstadt, a concentration camp in her native country of Czechoslovakia, because she was a “mischling” – half Jewish. Frieda’s mother was not Jewish, but her father was. Against the odds, Frieda survived the Holocaust in Theresienstadt.


"After the war people told me I was lucky to have been sent to Theresienstadt. It was the model camp. Intellectuals, artists and individuals who might someday provide something to the Reich were sent to Theresienstadt. I was sent to Theresienstadt because I was a “Mischling” (half Jewish). I didn’t feel lucky..." Read more of Frieda's story.





Frieda is a member of the Holocaust Center's speakers bureau.

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