Sally Wasserman is the only child survivor of the Dambrowa ghetto, which was located in southern Poland, not too far from Auschwitz-Birkenau. When her family was forced into the ghetto, her mother encountered Mr. Turken, a man who did work for the authorities in the ghetto. He and his wife agreed to take Sally in as a hidden child, and they kept her safe for the duration of the war, as the ghetto was being liquidated. Sally’s immediate family did not survive the Holocaust. After the war, Sally left the Turkens and Poland; she ended up in the Belsen DP camp before she made her way to New York City and eventually to her aunt in Toronto.
Sally is an entrancing speaker who works with both the Holocaust center and the Center for Diversity. She has shared her story with many Crestwood students over the years, including at our Human Rights and Diversity Symposium in November 2012. She was interviewed for this project by Stephanie Tanz and Kaily Wise. In 2015 Sally again visited us, speaking to Miss Young’s class and then doing an interview with Amanda, Minami and Tomer.
Videos
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- 1. Sally Wasserman - Prewar Memories and Family
- 1a. Sally's Family and Early Life.mp4
- 2a. The Holocaust and the Nazi Regime.mp4
- 2. Sept. 1, 1939
- 3a. Family and Poland.mp4
- 3. Dabrowa
- 4a. Sally's Parents and Memories from the Start of the War.mp4
- 4. Sally's Father
- 5. Life in the Ghetto
- 6. Children in the Holocaust
- 7a. Sally's Family and Early Life, continued; The Turkens.mp4
- 7. Families
- 8. The Turkens
- 9. Telling her Mother about Mr. Turken
- 10. Why the Turkens Helped
- 11. Loss of Family; Going to Canada
- 12. Saying Goodbye; Belongings
- 13. Understanding
- 14. Visiting the Camps
- 15. Sally's Hidden Life
- 16. Mr. Turken's Stories
- 17. Education; Learning English
- 18. Mrs. Turken
- 19. The Turkens' Apartment
- 20. Hiding Places
- 21. Life in Canada
- 21a. Life after the Holocaust.mp4
- 21d. Miss Macdonald's Lessons.mp4
- 21c. School in Toronto.mp4
- 21b. Thoughts on Canada.mp4
- 22a. Lessons on Humanity.mp4
- 22. Impacts