Holocaust survivors have volunteered at the Museum on a regular basis across the institution—engaging with visitors, sharing their personal histories, serving as tour guides, translating historic materials, and more, since the Museum opened. Their presence has been an invaluable asset, and their contributions vital to the Museum’s mission.
Learn about volunteering at the Museum.
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Arye Ephrath
Born: April 7, 1942, Bardejov, SlovakiaArye Ephrath was born on April 7, 1942 in Bardejov, a city located at the time in Slovakia, a client state and ally of Nazi Germany. Arye was born at a particularly fraught time for Jews in Slovakia. Just weeks earlier, the first deportations of Slovak Jews to Auschwitz had begun. That spring and summer, Slovak authorities rounded up tens of thousands Slovak Jews for deportation. Their initial focus was on teenagers and young adults, like Arye’s parents Miriam and Shmuel Friedman. Many Jews temporarily hid hoping to avoid deportation. While trying to avoid detection, Miriam gave birth to Arye in the basement of their home with the help of a housemaid. Later that evening, her Catholic doctor arrived to treat her. Shmuel was absent during the birth as he had escaped to the wooded hills outside of town.
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Peter Feigl
Born: March 1, 1929, Berlin, GermanyPeter Feigl, the only child of Ernst and Agnes Bornstein Feigl, was born on March 1, 1929, in Berlin, Germany. His father, a mechanical engineer, worked for a multinational company selling automotive equipment throughout Europe while his mother stayed home to raise Peter in an upper middle class environment. When the family, who were non-practicing Jews, moved to Vienna, Austria, Peter was baptized in the Catholic Church in the hope he would be shielded from the virulent antisemitism in Germany and Austria.
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Jacques Fein
Born: October 27, 1938, Paris, France Died: May 11, 2017, Columbia, MDJacques Fein was born in Paris, France in October, 1938. His parents, Rojza and Szmul Karpik, were Polish Jews who had immigrated to Paris in the 1930s. Jacques’ younger sister Annette was born in August, 1940. The Karpiks were a fairly typical Jewish Polish immigrant family; Szmul supported his wife and children with a modest income from his work as a tailor, while Rojza cared for the home and children. After the German invasion and surrender of France in 1940, the Karpiks’ lives changed drastically.
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Ninetta Matsa Feldman
Born: March 21, 1938Ninetta Matsa Feldman was born in 1938 in Arta, Greece, to Esther and Leon Matsas. In 1940, the year Italy invaded Greece, Ninetta, her older brother, Michael, and their parents moved to Agrinio, where Leon worked for the National Bank of Greece.
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Steven Fenves
Born: June 6, 1931, Subotica, YugoslaviaSteven Fenves was born Steven Fenyves on June 6, 1931 in Subotica, Yugoslavia, a town of 100,000 inhabitants with a Jewish population of nearly 6,000. His father, Lajos, managed a publishing house and his mother, Klári (Klara), was a graphic artist. Although they studied Serbian in school, Steven and his elder sister, Estera (Eszti), spoke Hungarian and German at home.
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Allan Firestone
Born: January 31, 1933, Kołomyja, Poland Died: January 5, 2023, Silver Spring, MDAllan Firestone was born Abraham Wiżnitzer on January 31, 1933 in Kołomyja, Poland (present-day Ukraine). His father, Azriel, and his mother, Clara, ran a small grocery store and bar. Allan had four older sisters: Rose, Frieda, Julia, and Rachel.
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Fred Flatow
Born: May 16, 1928, Königsberg, East PrussiaFred Flatow was born Siegfried Friedel Ernst Flatow on May 16, 1928, in Königsberg, East Prussia (present day: Kaliningrad, Russia). Manfred, Fred’s older brother, was born in 1925. His parents, Erich and Malwine, opened a rainwear factory in 1924 and also operated a small fur coat business started by Fred’s grandparents.
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Brigitte Freidin
Born: June 3, 1930, Augsburg, Germany Died: March 2, 2022, Silver Spring, MDBrigitte Freidin was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Augsburg, Germany on June 3, 1930. Her father, Siegfried, was a volunteer soldier during World War I and managed a furniture store. Her mother, Rita, took care of Brigitte, their only child, and spent her days cooking, a talent for which she was well known throughout town. Brigitte had a wonderful childhood, spending her time playing with other neighborhood children, visiting the local zoo, reading, and swimming in the municipal pool.
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Gideon Frieder
Born: September 30, 1937, Zvolen, SlovakiaGideon Frieder was born on September 30, 1937, in Zvolen, Czechoslovakia (today Slovakia) to Armin Abraham-Abba and Ružena (née Berl) Frieder. In 1938, his family moved to the town of Nové Mesto nad Váhom after his father, a rabbi, was offered a position there. Gideon’s younger sister Gita was born in Nové Mesto on August 8, 1940.
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Manya Moszkowicz Friedman
Born: December 30, 1925, Chmielnik, Poland Died: December 5, 2013, Bethesda, MarylandManya Moskowicz Friedman was born December 30, 1925, in Chmielnik, a small town in central Poland whose Jewish community dates back to the 16th century. Her father owned a furniture shop and her mother took care of the home and children. Manya had two younger brothers, David and Mordechai, who was called “Motele.” Manya’s grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins also lived in the area. She attended public school in the morning and Hebrew school in the afternoon.
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