Today is international Holocaust Memorial Day, so I'm going to share my family's Holocaust story. 1/

My father is a child Holocaust survivor. He was born in December 1940. He survived the war with his brother and both my parental grandparents. Here they are before the war. 2/

My grandparents wrote their memories in a book - one of my prized possessions. My father and grandparents translated it on the occasion of my brother's Bar Mitzvah in the early 1990s. 3/

My Grandmother's family was Dutch and my Grandfather's was Danish. I called them Farmor and Farfar (literally father's father and father's mother in danish.) they lived in Holland, and when Holland was occupied in 1942, they left to go to Denmark. 4/

They attempted to escape to Sweden by boat in October 1943, but on their second night trying they were captured and sent to Horserød. From there, they left together in November 1943: Farmor/father/uncle were brought to Ravensbrück, and Farfar to Sachsenhausen. 5/

When the train stopped and the women and children were told to get off the train and were only given a few minutes to gather their belongings, they were told they would be reunited in 2 days so Farfar kept the 3 suitcases. 6/

The next few months they were separated. Farfar was in Sachsenhausen, then fell ill with Scarlet Fever (and was in a Jewish hospital in Berlin for 3 months) and arrived in Theresienstadt in April 1944. 7/

Meanwhile, Farmor, my dad and uncle were in prison in Ravensbrück (where my dad almost died of diphtheria) and my grandmother writes of being so scared and anxious. Crying all the time. 8/

Farmor, my father and uncle left Ravensbrück and arrived at Theresienstadt in January 1944. Farfar was transferred there in April 1944. This is a map Farmor made from memory after the war. 9/

They were reunited on April 19, 1944. My father didn't recognize his father because 6 months is a long time for a 3.5 year old. (I think about these moments often - what my father went through at that young age - now that I'm parenting a 3.5 year old...) 10/

They had one year together at Theresienstadt, including a visit by a committee of Danish & Intl Red Cross to show off how 'humane' it was. My family was moved to a new, less-crowded & newly-painted room, given a pep-talk to not say anything to the committee. Or else. 11/

My grandmother noted that the day of the committee the food was so much better and it was the first time they were served a vegetable in 1944 (cauliflower). 12/

The rest of 1944 was taken up with infected eczema, abscesses, the flu, diarrhea, impetigo, fleas, high fevers, bed bugs, chickenpox and scabies. 13/

As Danish Jews they were able to revive packages from family in Denmark, Holland and the Red Cross. The extra food helped. 14/

April 15, 1945: the Danish King Christian X arranged to have the Danish Jews released to Sweden, and they were all picked up in white busses. 15/

My grandfather wrote that an SS officer came on the busses to give them some rules to be obeyed during the transport and ended by saying 'now you can take off the stars'. They were on their way to freedom. 16/

They set off through Germany and Denmark, then on a ferry to Copenhagen and then another to Sweden. After 2 weeks in quarantine, they returned to Copenhagen and were reunited with family. Later they returned to Holland, back to the same house they left years before. 17/

My grandmother - who still finds new ways to amaze me with her strength - had a stillborn baby boy after the war. She then went on to have another boy and named him Christian, after the Danish king that advocated for them during the war. 18/

I grew up knowing Farmor & Farfar, who lived in Holland until their deaths in the 1990s. My dad & uncles are still alive & well; my dad is the only one that came to America. I have cousins & extended family in Holland/Denmark and we FaceTime when we can't visit regularly. 19/

My maternal side was also affected: my grandparents left Germany (Frankfort) in 1938 - it was getting too scary. They were assimilated Jews with class privilege & were able to secure visas and come over with some of their belongings. In 1938, just before Kristallnacht. 20/

My maternal grandparents were teens when they left (and were dating each other back in Germany!). Both families settled in NYC - first Flushing then Washington Heights. They married and started a family in Long Island, NY. 21/

These two families were united when my mother took a semester abroad in Holland and met my dad. They married in 1969, and my dad moved to the US. 22/

Both sides of my family have informed who I am today: A proud Jew committed to dismantling white supremacy. Today I remember the 6 million Jews as well as the others murdered during the Holocaust. Thanks for reading. 23/end

I forgot to post this pic! This is Farmor, Farfar, my uncle and father in 1945 after their liberation. Pure joy. 24/end