Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined
188 Betty Grebenschikoff: Escaping the Holocaust, adapting to refugee life, and belonging in America.
Betty Grebenschikoff, age 92 ½ , continues to speak out about the horrors of the Holocaust and her experiences as a refugee without a passport: from Germany to China to Australia and, finally, to the United States where she gained citizenship. At age 9, Betty was separated from her beloved friend, Ana Maria Wahrenberg, only to be reunited after 82 years--like “finding the end of the rainbow.” On a weekly basis, Betty (in Florida) and Ana Maria (in Chile) talk about their childhood, similar paths taken, commitment to telling their stories, and the joys of family and friends. As a long-time refugee, Betty learned to adapt to everyday hardships with the support of “family around me. We were the lucky ones who got through it.” Betty advises: “don’t take anything for granted, never travel without a passport, and appreciate that home is not a place-- it is a feeling of belonging with family.”
There are very few of us left who can talk about the Holocaust; the lives of individuals,
not just the numbers, have to be remembered. - Betty Grebenschikoff
Connect with Betty:
Website: www.bettygrebenschikoff.com
Memoir: Once My Name Was Sara (1992), Original Seven Publishing Co.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfkDAk2IRPI. The New Reality: The Untold Story of How 2
Best Friends Separated by the Nazis Reunited After 82 Years.
https://www.holocaustedu.org/survivor-testimonies/in-my-own-words-with-betty-
grebenshikoff/ Interviewed by daughter, Jennifer, Special Kristallnacht Commemoration
Program
https://www.idcfl.org/betty-grebenschikoff-international (International Diplomatic Core of
Florida)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK6WrOrL3j4 [Shanghai Ghetto, Part I]