Survivor Story: Remembering the Holocaust and Combating Hate

April 11, 2024—Ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day in May, Winsor hosted Holocaust survivor Janet Applefield during all-school assembly. This special assembly was a collaboration with Facing History and Ourselves, a national organization, which uses lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate.

“I am on the Facing History Teacher Advisory Board, and the history department has worked with Facing History for many years,” explained History Faculty and Bezan Chair for Community and Inclusion Julian Braxton in a letter to the community. According to their website, Facing History and Ourselves is an “active and continuous process that calls on each of us to connect the choices of the past to those we face today.””

Nika Bigelow ’25 and Emily Lutzker ’25, club heads of Jew Kids on the Block—the Winsor affinity group for Jewish students—introduced Ms. Applefield. In the lead up to Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, the student leaders emphasized how meaningful it is to hear survivor stories and how the students gathered today may be the last generation to hear first-person accounts of the Holocaust. At 89 years old, Ms. Applefield remained seated onstage in the David E. and Stacey L. Goel Theater and used a slideshow of family photos to illustrate her moving story.

While most Upper School students have been introduced to the history of the Holocaust through the Class V curriculum, the History Department accounted for the fact that some students in the Lower School might have limited knowledge about this moment in history. To ensure that all students were prepared to engage in Ms. Applefield’s assembly presentation, Lower School and Class V History faculty took class time to discuss the topic. Resources used by Winsor faculty are shared below.

Born Gustawa Singer in Krakow, Poland, Ms. Applefield had several names and lived many lives before she enrolled in middle school at the age of 12 in Newark, New Jersey and adopted the name Janet. She was just four years old when war landed on her doorstep, sending her on a tumultuous journey with extended family, neighbors, and strangers as she assumed the identity of a young Catholic girl and hid from the Nazis. Living first with her cousin’s nanny, Ms. Applefield’s parents thought they might have a better chance of survival if they separated. Her mother, aunts, and cousin sadly died in Belzec extermination camp. Her father managed to survive three concentration camps and, after the war, found her in an orphanage where they reunited after three and a half years apart. 

Their lives threatened and their property seized, Ms. Appliefield and her father were forced to acknowledge that Poland was no longer a safe place for them. With family in the United States and Palestine, her father asked her where she would like to live. It took them two years to obtain the necessary paperwork before they made the difficult journey aboard a marine transport vessel to the United States, where they eventually joined relatives in New Jersey. Though the passage was rough, she remembers the “magical” experience of enjoying red Jell-O and a Milky Way candy bar. Ms. Applefield entered elementary school, and began her new life, complete with a new name: Janet, an Americanization of Jeannette, the name of her much admired and sophisticated Parisian cousin.

Ms. Applefield went on to marry, earn a master’s degree, and raise three children. She now looks to her children—as well as her five grandchildren—to continue to share her story. She shared her own deep gratitude for the many people, including friends, family and strangers, who helped keep her alive, saying, “They didn’t just save me. They saved future generations. They were very brave. I’ll always be very grateful for what they did.” Reflecting on this, she urged the Winsor community to be mindful of the power of the decisions we each make every day. She reminded those in attendance that “even the smallest acts of kindness have a ripple effect.”

She concluded her remarks with a simple, powerful request from the audience: that each person share her story with someone who doesn’t yet know it, adding, “Can you please follow me on social media? I want my message to be out there.”

Nika and Emily then conducted a brief Q&A with Ms. Applefield. She shared her hope for the future, acknowledging that the future is in the hands of this generation, and that she believes nothing is more critical to combating antisemitism than education. After Ms. Applefield received a standing ovation from the Winsor community in attendance, Ms. Pelmas thanked her for sharing her stories, concluding, “We will carry them with us forever.”

 

Facing History and Ourselves calls us all to action. “To build a more just and equitable future, we must face our history in all its complexity.” And the gathered audience did just that. 

Ms. Applefield’s forthcoming book, Becoming Janet: Finding Myself in the Holocaust, will be published in May 2024. 

• Passing Torch of Memory: The Importance of Survivor Testimony from Facing History and Ourselves, Holocaust survivors and their families talk about the importance of survivor testimony (five-minute video).
• Frequently Asked Questions about the Holocaust for Educators from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Guidelines for Teaching About the Holocaust from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum