Kestenberg Archive

SR was born in the summer of 1935, in Novogrodek, Poland, to a well-known and affluent family. When the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, her father went hiding in forest. SR, her mother and little sister were looking for a safe place to hide, however the German police found them and sent them to prison and later to the ghetto. They managed to escape after 3 weeks. SR was left with Kollandon, a polish man who hid her in his cellar and took care of her until her father came to take her to the forests. There, the family stayed in a hole in the ground that was covered up with branches. Since it was not safe in the woods and there was a constant fear of Russians, Germans and Partisans attacks they could go out of the hole only at night. In 1945 the area was liberated. At the initiative of her mother, they managed to be smuggled through the border to Germany and went to DP camp Munich. They stayed there for 10 years until 1955. The family was preparing to go to Israel but instead her mother decided to go to America mainly because of her sister health issues. Her father's family was Zionist and moved to Israel, and in 1995 SR went to see them in Israel. She became a Zionist as well. SR married a concentration camp survivor she met in America. She gave birth to two children. After the birth of her first son, SR went through neo-natal depression and was treated with medications. She remains grateful that unlike most of her friends who lost either father or a mother, she had them both by her side.