Selected excerpts from the collection

Hearing the voices of Holocaust survivors tell their story is a powerfully direct and personal experience. These brief narratives describe striking moments in the lives of Holocaust survivors who settled in Wisconsin. While some recount the turbulent, crushing magnitude of the Holocaust, others quietly reflect on the meaning of life-altering events.

Each excerpt features an audio recording and the companion text.

Listen to their stories

Why didn't the Jews in the ghetto fight back?
- Rosa Katz

A young woman escapes from the Warsaw Ghetto
- Pela Alpert

Living under a rule of silence while hiding in Holland
- Herb DeLevie

A Polish mother and her baby escape liquidation in 1943
- Chana Comins

A female prisoner at Auschwitz kills a guard
- Walter Peltz

A young Dutch woman evades capture by the Gestapo
- Flora Bader

A United Nations administrator helps Jews start new lives
- Saul Sorrin

Polish survivor encounters prejudice renting a house
- Rosa Katz

View all excerpts

More Reading

Voices of the Wisconsin Past: Remembering the Holocaust
This book contains highlights of 14 of the Wisconsin Holocaust survivors' interviews.