Temple Sinai of Roslyn invites the community to hear Holocaust survivor Sally Frishberg, who will share her experiences at our Kristallnacht Commemoration at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 10.
Frishberg tells her story so that younger generations may experience what she witnessed firsthand.
Hiding in an attic for two years and fearing for the lives of her family are Frishberg’s distinct memories of the years following her eighth birthday.
The Nazis had invaded Poland, and Sally and her family had been hiding in haystacks in the fields near her town until one brave Catholic man stepped in to hide them in his attic. Every night after his family was asleep, the farmer brought them the only food he could spare: boiled beans and potatoes.
“We were stick figures, but we were alive,” she remembers.
In 1944, after liberation by the Russian army, they returned to their home to find everything was gone. Their anti-Semitic neighbors told them to leave or be killed.
“Poland is for Polish people” they said. “We don’t want any Jews here.”
Eventually the family immigrated to America, but Frishberg never forgot the kindness of that Polish man, Stanislav Grocholski, who defied the Nazis and hid her family.
In 1987, Sally and some of her family returned to Poland to visit with the family of the man who had saved her. They wanted to know why Grocholski had risked his life for them. They were shocked to learn that as a young child, he was orphaned, and a kindly neighbor raised him.
That neighbor turned out to be Frishberg’s grandfather. Years later, Grocholski jumped in to save the Frishberg family to repay his debt of gratitude for her family’s sacrifice.
Her compelling story is important for all to hear firsthand. All are welcome to attend this free special service.
