This section features the true experiences of Holocaust Survivors we see and visit today. This is to fulfill their requests,
“Remember us! Tell others of our experiences so we are not forgotten!”
~ Raisa ~
There were six children in their family. Her mother was pregnant with the 7th when the Germans were clearing Jews out and she could not hide because of her pregnancy. Raisa’s father was in the Red Army.
When it was time for the baby to be born, her father sneaked into the city but someone told the Germans. They came to the house and told him to come outside, telling the family they needed him to dig ditches. When they went out they shot and killed him. He was standing outside the window where her mother was in labor and she saw it happen.
Then Raisa’s two brothers came around the corner with water to wash the baby when it was born. They were startled and asked, “What did you do to our father?” The soldiers shot and killed them too. Her mother saw it all while in labor. The soldiers told her if she had them buried, they would kill her too. Their bodies lay where she could see them while she had the baby. Then bombing began and another son was born.
They ran to another city to hide but they did not have enough food. They tried feeding the baby mashed apples but the baby died there.
One of Raisa’s last memories was her sister taking her to a field near the end of the war. A lot of bodies were there, not buried, having been cut and mutilated, lying everywhere. Her sister said to look, to remember. She said “Don’t forget.”
Raisa was six years old.
