Hochman, Lea

Lea Hochman comes from a small town in Poland where she grew up with her family in a farming area.— Life changed after the 1939 German invasion, though it was not until 1942 that the Germans decided to get rid of her family. They were 1 of 9 Jewish families in the town—, and they were all sent to a ghetto. As the family was sleeping in a small attic Lea experienced a nightmare that changed her life forever. Lea and her brother ran away, escaping the —ghetto. From this time she was no longer Lea Hochman. She had to hide her identity— and she became Eva, spending most of her time inside and hiding. She was afraid to go out and be found, though she had to t times and did succeed in keeping her secret. After the war she worked for the Germans for a short period and ended up in a DPC camp in Hofgeismar, Germany.— That was where she met her future husband, marrying him in the camp. From there she moved to Israel and stayed there for about 10 years. The country was new so life was hard. She had her first child there and then moved to Canada. Lea spoke at Crestwood in January 2011 as part of Holocaust Remembrance Day, and it was a featured story in the Canadian Jewish News.