top of page
Holocaust Survivors
Click a portrait to reveal a caption.
Click HERE for project information.
Return to JEWISH WORLD page.
"I admire your photos and the concept behind them. Up to now, all the photographers tried to make
us look old and unhappy, whereas, in reality, we had full and productive lives after the Holocaust.”
— Marcel Drimer, Holocaust survivor, Washington, D.C.
Life Before the Holocaust: Portraits of Character
Available now in paperback and eBook on Amazon.


![Marcel Drimer
b. 1934
Drohobycz, Poland (today, Ukraine)
Arrival in USA: 1961
OBJECT: Diploma, Polytechnic Institute of Wroclawska
“This is my diploma from Polytechnic Institute of Wroclawska [Politechnika Wrocławska]. These studies were the beginnings of my career as an engineer. When I came to America, I initially worked as a draftsman but soon became a fully-fledged engineer. I contributed to the mechanization of the US post system and worked for the Army Corp of Engineers. I am proud to have given something positive to society.”](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/18e1cd_5428a7485b6448098454d0ba75d53922~mv2_d_3840_5760_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_241,h_362,q_90/18e1cd_5428a7485b6448098454d0ba75d53922~mv2_d_3840_5760_s_4_2.jpg)





![Alexander Rabinovitz
b. 1934
Lugansk, Ukraine
Arrival in Israel: 1997
OBJECTS: Tool and menorah (example of things he repairs)
"In my retirement, I started repairing and fixing up antiques and other old things. I like working with my hands. I help out people from the club [Association of Concentration Camps & Ghetto Survivors in Israel] too when they need repairs at home. I put together many of the photo displays at the club.”](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/18e1cd_d14d5f7070424e309540a8afb52887b2~mv2_d_3840_5760_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_241,h_362,q_90/18e1cd_d14d5f7070424e309540a8afb52887b2~mv2_d_3840_5760_s_4_2.jpg)



![Erich Reich
Sir
b. 1935
Vienna, Austria
Arrival in UK: 1939
OBJECT: Wire bicycle
“I organized my first charity bicycle event in 1992. The charity events enabled me to give something back to the UK for allowing me in as an unaccompanied child refugee [on the Kindertransport]. The bicycle events which I organized helped the charities that benefitted thousands of people afflicted with various illnesses. They also challenged the participants physically.”](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/18e1cd_020a59f5fc6644ef92ef14840d34aa14~mv2_d_3840_5760_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_241,h_362,q_90/18e1cd_020a59f5fc6644ef92ef14840d34aa14~mv2_d_3840_5760_s_4_2.jpg)



![Halina Yasharoff Peabody
b. 1932
Kraków, Poland
Arrival in USA: 1968 (via UK and Israel)
OBJECTS: Table tennis trophies
“I picked up table tennis as a hobby in my mid- teens at the Maccabi Youth Club in London [England]. Table tennis helped me to overcome my new environment, language and culture. In 1953, I represented England at the Maccabiah Games in Israel. I competed again in 1957 and then remained in Israel for 11 years. In 1959, I was crowned Israel’s women’s table tennis champion.”](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/18e1cd_1b2107b9f2304d148d9f532f9a40b9cc~mv2_d_3840_5760_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_241,h_362,q_90/18e1cd_1b2107b9f2304d148d9f532f9a40b9cc~mv2_d_3840_5760_s_4_2.jpg)



bottom of page