Signs of Survival

Two sisters: one deaf, one hearing. This is their true story.

“I was ten years old then, and my sister was eight. The responsibility was on me to warn everyone when the soldiers were coming because my sister and both my parents were deaf.“

Meet Renee and Herta, two sisters who faced the unimaginable — together. This is their true story.

As Jews living in 1940s Czechoslovakia, Renee, Herta, and their parents were in immediate danger when the Holocaust came to their door. As the only hearing person in her family, Renee had to alert her parents and sister when the sound of Nazi boots approached their home so they could hide.

But soon their parents were tragically taken away, and the two sisters went on the run, desperate to find a safe place to hide. Eventually they, too, would be captured and taken to the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen. Communicating in sign language and relying on each other for strength in the midst of illness, death, and starvation, Renee and Herta would have to fight to survive the darkest of times.

This gripping memoir, told in a vivid “oral history” format, is a testament to the power of sisterhood and love, and now more than ever a reminder of how important it is to honor the past, and keep telling our own stories.

Joshua M. Greene is a popular lecturer on Holocaust history and the spiritual quest. A former instructor at Hofstra and Fordham Universities, Greene is recipient of numerous awards for his historical biographies and documentary films. Learn more about Joshua's work on his website https://joshuamgreene.info/. He will be joined in conversation by Holocaust Museum LA's Chief Impact Officer, Jordanna Gessler.

This program will have an ASL interpreter.

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