Survivor Profiles

Survivor testimonies — firsthand accounts from individuals who lived through genocide and other atrocities —  help students more deeply appreciate the human dimensions of important moments in history. They supplement what we learn from historians and secondary sources by offering unique perspectives on the difficult and sometimes impossible choices individuals were forced to confront during moments of collective violence and injustice. 

This resource collection gives students access to survivor testimonies as well as primary source documents, photographs, and video clips that will help students prepare for a survivor visit.   The discussions that follow the testimonies reconfirm the significance of our work - to help connect the past to the moral choices we make today and to educate students to find their voice and then use it to contribute to the world around them.

	Dr. Maurice Vanderpol Maurice (Ries) Vanderpol was born on July 12, 1922, in Amsterdam, Holland into a middle class Jewish family. His parents worked very hard to give their children a secure existence and future. He attended public schools and had many friends of various religious and ethnic backgrounds.
	Sonia Weitz Sonia Schreiber Weitz was born in 1928 in Krakow, Poland, where she lived a "modest but comfortable" life in the Jewish section of the city. Her mother, Adela Finder Schreiber, was a dedicated housewife and her father, Janek (Jacob) Schreiber, was a middle-class businessman who owned a small leather goods shop. Sonia was only eleven when the Germans invaded Poland.
	Rena Finder Rena Ferber Finder was born in Kracow, Poland in 1929 and grew up in a middle class neighborhood. Although antisemitism pervaded Kracow, Rena had a comfortable childhood surrounded by loving family and friends.