Rose's Story

My name is Mark Skier. I was born in Brooklyn in 1966. I had a normal, happy, American Jewish childhood. 30 years before my birth, the situation was quite different for my mother, who was a Polish Jew and who lived through the Holocaust. Her entire immediate family was murdered by the Nazis, and she survived with the help of her aunt.

Many second generation survivors state that their parents are uncomfortable or unwilling to share their experiences with their children. My mother was quite different. She is very eloquent and eager to share her story, not only with her family, but with the world. She has been the subject of articles and books, and has spoken publicly many times.

Her story is quite frankly unbelievable, but the sad truth is that it is not uncommon enough to be fiction. In 1997 Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation interviewed her for their archives. I recently received a copy of this testimony. What follows here is my transcription of her interview.

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