Shoah Legacy Writers-A Second Generation Experience

Join Michele Gold, Honorary Director Holocaust Museum LA for an exploration of the extraordinary outcomes of a group of second-generation descendants of Holocaust survivors who came together to tell their personal stories. Each writer shares a short excerpt of their work, and Dr. Michael Berenbaum will explore the significance of documenting family histories that not only influence our lives today, but the importance of how it can shape the future for all of us.
Full works are available to read on the Holocaust Museum LA website, here: www.holocaustm...
The writers in this program include:
*Dr. Melvin Greenspan
Dr. Melvin Greenspan was born to two Shoah survivors, Tamara and Jacob. He is an only child. Both of his parents suffered throughout their survivor lives. He was a firsthand witness to the manifestation of the damage of one’s inner self, and has been searching for a personal place of Shalom/Shalem in his adult journey as a second generation. Dr. Greenspan’s Aunt Esther is one of the founders of Holocaust Museum LA.
*Priscilla Schneider
Priscilla Schneider’s parents were Holocaust Survivors who met after the War. She and her brother were born in Budapest, Hungary. They came as refugees to the United States and she grew up in Los Angeles. She is married with four children and six grandchildren, and has been working as an HMLA docent for the past ten years, which she states is one of the most rewarding experiences of her life.
*Eli Eldan
A global citizen in the technology domain, Eli has lived, studied and worked in Israel, France, Boston, Japan, and now lives and works in Los Angeles. A son of Holocaust survivors from Poland and Romania, Eli has 3 sons, and 3 grandsons.
*Paul Schneider
Paul is the youngest son and nephew of two sisters from Poland who survived the holocaust in Soviet exile, lost their parents to hunger in Uzbekistan, their brother to the Soviet army, and who made a pact to never speak of such things to their future children. Luckily, they slowly lost their willpower to keep their oath. He practices Internal Medicine, and when in a really good mood, his classical music.
*Fern Topas Salka
Fern Topas Salka’s parents married before the war, lived in then escaped from the Warsaw Ghetto, lived in and survived living in a wall, then a sewer and enslavement on a German pig farm. She is an only child, born in NYC, raised in Los Angeles. Fern has lived a profoundly Jewish but not religious life. She is an involved mother and grandmother, practicing lawyer, sometimes writer and former Synagogue President.
*Deena Poll Goodman
Deena Poll Goodman is the daughter of one of the younger child survivors, Marie Kaufman, who died in 2022. She has always embraced her mother’s dedication to HMLA and other educational institutes to promote tolerance and educate the youth. The journey of legacy ‘to never forget’ is a message she is passionate about. Deena has two young-adult children, was born and raised in Los Angeles and has a private practice that caters to Pelvic Health Physical Therapy.
"For in the end, it is all about memory, its source and its magnitude, and, of course, its consequences" --Night, Elie Wiesel

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Thank you Paul. The things you said about our moms, brought me to tears. I love you. ❤