Portraits of strength: Minnesota's Holocaust survivors

Esther Begam, born July 2, 1928, Chrzanow, Poland, left. When the German army entered Poland in 1939 Esther Reicher was only 11 years old. Her father Mordechai, a well-respected rabbi, was away serving as a chaplain in the Polish army. Esther, her mother, older sister and little brother were caught by the tightening grip of the Nazi war machine. Esther was the only member of her family to survive. Leo Weiss, Dec. 6, 1924 - Sept. 30, 2015, Drohobycz, Poland, right. Leo was about to be shipped out to what he knew would be certain death. He bravely told the commanding officer that he wouldn't leave without his wife, who was in the next cell. Leo wasn't married, but his schoolmate, a beautiful young girl was in the next cell. Surprisingly, the officer let them both stay behind, thereby escaping death.
David Sherman | JCRC
Go Deeper.
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