As you may have noticed by now – I am very close with my Grandmother. In a lot of ways she is my soul-mate. And, I was practically raised by her. I feel lucky to have had someone like her in my life because it has taught me a lot about life, strength, survival, and so much more. When I moved from Queens, NY to Long Island, NY at age 7, I left my Grandmother and her apartment behind. But returned every Saturday for the next 15+ years. Those Saturdays were, and continue to be my favorite, and most cherished memory. She has always been very open about her time in the concentration camps in Europe. Her experience in the Holocaust. What her life was like before the war, and after. And I feel very lucky to have someone in my life – who can share such stories with me. Not everyone had the opportunities I had growing up. Not everyone got to hear stories like her’s. I was raised by someone who lived through something horrific and survived. And it has given me a very strong sense of strength, and survival. That no matter what happens to me – it’ll never be what she went through. Even when I think “this is the worst!” It’s not. It could be so much worse. I get down on myself a lot, and have my moments where I think “I’m not going to make it.” But then I talk to my Grandmother and realize, it’s going to be okay. I will survive. I will make it. It’s not that bad. She is the strongest person I know. She is a survivor. She is a do-er. She is a comedian. She is an amazing cook. She is wise. She is a daughter, a sister, a Mother, and a Grandmother.  But most of all, she is a hero!

I think that the world needs more Grandma Dora. We’d probably be in a better place. Our generation needs to hear her story – the stories of her generation. We won’t have them around much longer. And we need to wake up! We can learn a lot from her, and her generation. Maybe we can change – maybe we can grow.

I decided to film this short documentary because I believe my generation needs a wake up call. Because I have had the privilege of growing up with such vital life lessons, and stories. I wanted to share a piece of that with you all. My sister happens to be taking a class on genocide in school, it seemed like the perfect time to do this – and so we drafted up a bunch of questions and sat down with my Grandmother for an interview.

It is in two parts – each part runs about 15-20 min. But, I truly believe it’s worth watching.

Love,
Jessica, Hayley, and Grandma Dora.