Survivor Talk Sundays: Barbara Cohen

Every survivor’s story is unique and provides a special, first-hand account of life before, during, and after the Holocaust. Hearing from local Michigan survivors helps us see all the victims of the Holocaust as real people who had–and lost–family, friends, and communities. Please join us on Sundays to listen to a survivor speaker. Barbara Cohen Barbara (Schechter) Cohen was born in Bukaczowce, Poland (now part of Ukraine) in 1941. When Barbara was a baby, she and her parents were sent to live in a ghetto. They were able to escape with false papers and were hidden by a non-Jewish farmer in the area. Because she had blond hair and blue eyes, Barbara’s mother was able to pass as German and took Barbara to Germany where they stayed during the war. They ended up in a Displaced Persons Camp in Stuttgart, where they were reunited with Barbara’s father. The family arrived in New York in 1946 as refugees. “In the survivor community, one of our fears is that we don’t want to be forgotten. We want our children to remember the legacy, where they came from, that we are survivors, that we are strong people.”