Schools

Springfield Holocaust Survivor Shares Life Story With Students

Miriam Gershwin spoke with students in Bound Brook.

The following was submitted by Township Committeewoman Margaret Bandrowski:

On Wednesday, Miriam Gershwin of Springfield visited Lafayette School in Bound Brook to speak to 130 fifth graders about her life growing up in Germany and how that life dramatically changed in 1938 when severe restrictions were first imposed on the Jewish population. 

In March of 1936, the family moved to Lithuania, leaving her father behind. As the War progressed, Gershwin and her family were forced to relocate several more times, enduring ever-increasing restrictions, moving eventually into a wire-fenced ghetto. 

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Assigned as a maid to the commander, Gershwin and her fellow captives were assigned to forced labor and saw various groups of prisoners sent away “temporarily,” never to be seen again. Among them were her mother and brother, both killed. 

Finally, in 1944, after four years in a concentration camp, Gershwin was evacuated, eventually reunited with her husband and father (who were both held at Dachau, each not knowing the other was also there) and then liberated by the Russians. After much wandering through Eastern Europe, the family found their way to America and to Springfield where she and her husband raised their family. Gerswhin has two children, two grandchildren, and twin great-grandchildren.

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The children showed great interest in Gershwin’s account of her life, asked many penetrating questions and were generous with their frequent applause and appreciation, presenting her with a bouquet of flowers at the conclusion. The visit was arranged by Rita Huber, a Springfield resident who teaches at the school.


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