Born in Lodz, Poland, Stephan Jalnos and his sister grew up in a loving home. When Germany invited Poland in 1939 his life changed forever. His family ended up in the Lodz Ghetto where his parents ultimately died of typhus. Stephan escaped the ghetto and joined the Polish resistance until his capture in 1943.

Learn more of Stephan’s story and his strength to survive Mathausen concentration camp and the death march shared by his son, Robi, on September 15 at 1:30pm.

Ruth Fuks Reif was the youngest of three children born to Szmuel and Bronia Fuks in Pabianice, Poland near Lodz. In 1940, when German troops occupied her town, ghettos were established. Ruth's brother was taken away in 1941 at the age of 25. In 1942, Ruth's father was taken away by the Nazis. Ruth (now 14), her mother, and sister were transported and lived in the Lodz ghetto, until the ghetto was liquidated and the three women were taken in a cattle car train to Auschwitz concentration camp.

Learn more of Ruth’s story from concentration camps and daring escapes to survival shared by her granddaughter, Eleanor Gossen, on October 20 at 2pm.

When the ghetto in Szarkowszczyzna, Poland was liquidated, Slava Cymer Fintel was separated from her family but ultimately found her sister, Tzila. They fled to the family farm of a Polish friend’s, Piotr Belevich. The girls hid in a hole in the barn covered in hay that Piotr had dug. Eventually, Tzila was allowed to go into the house as a “Polish cousin”. Slava remained in hiding in the barn alone for the rest of the summer.

Learn more of Slava and Tzila’s remarkable story of hiding and survival thanks to the kindness of strangers, as told by Slava’s son, Steve Fintel, on November 10 at 2pm.