Holocaust survivor who was sent to concentration camp as infant now has photographic proof of her experience
Click here for updates on this story
NEW YORK (WCBS) — Many of the survivors of the Holocaust have lasting memories they wish they could forget.
One survivor may have no recollection, but new proof verifies her presence.
Stella Fertig always had written verification she survived the Holocaust — a distribution card for her father — but she has no memory of her experience.
“Everybody tells me, ‘You’re better off not remembering,’ and I don’t know if I’m better off,” she said.
“Because?” CBS2’s Steve Overmyer asked.
“Because it’s more real. It’s like a story that’s been told to me my whole life and I don’t remember,” Fertig said.
Many of the survivors of the Holocaust have lasting memories they wish they could forget.
One survivor may have no recollection, but new proof verifies her presence.
Stella Fertig always had written verification she survived the Holocaust — a distribution card for her father — but she has no memory of her experience.
“Everybody tells me, ‘You’re better off not remembering,’ and I don’t know if I’m better off,” she said.
“Because?” CBS2’s Steve Overmyer asked.
“Because it’s more real. It’s like a story that’s been told to me my whole life and I don’t remember,” Fertig said.
A prisoner named Luba made it her mission to keep the children fed and alive, and she did. Forty-four survived, including Fertig, who’s now a grandmother living in Queens.
“Oh, it is home. I’ve lived here longer than I lived in Holland, and yet I still speak with an accent. I can’t get rid of it,” Fertig said, laughing.
Old images show a life she doesn’t remember. For the past 77 years, Fertig has made a new life while remaining devoted to her history and outlasting her captors.
“Here I am sitting here talking to you, and they didn’t want that, the Nazis,” she said.
“You feel victorious?” Overmyer asked.
“Absolutely. I have the pleasure of seeing my children grow up and become happy adults. And I see now my grandchildren. And I’m eating it up. It’s wonderful,” Fertig said.
She and her brother were both liberated and reunited with their mother after nearly two years in the camp. She saidher mother lived a long and happy life, and her brother still lives in Holland.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
