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I agree.Simone Salen's parents survived the Holocaust, and she describes her life as a miracle. She was reunited with her father's diary, which he kept during the Holocaust, and translated it into English.
jhp000549. Generations of the Shoah - Nevada Records, approximately 2001-2020. MS-00720. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/d1cc0xj4b
English
The Miracle of My Life Simone Salen I consider myself a miracle. I should not be here. I have little knowledge of ?our past life? because I was only a few months old when we came here. I was born in Vienna, Austria in May of 1939. My memories include being on a ship. I spoke German as a child. We were poor. I was teased for my accent and for being a foreigner. I worked hard to be accepted and to speak English without an accent. Hofburg Palace, Vienna In my ?past life? my father was in the textile business and mother was a designer. My grandmother was a milliner. After Kristallnacht there were no more store fronts. My father had felt assimilated and Austrian and resisted leaving despite what was happening. He changed his mind and my mother and I went into hiding with friends while he looked for a way out for us. At one point he was imprisoned in Dachau and spent five months there. Dachau Finally he was able to get visas and we left in the spring of 1940. My parents did not talk about the past much. It wasn?t until I read Anne Frank that I began to understand what could have been. I realized we were fortunate to have been able to leave. That was around the same time my dad died. After that I had to grow up and help my mother. About two years ago I discovered my father?s diary. The diary was found by someone who contacted me and asked if we were related. We were not related but we are connected now. She got the diary from her great-grandfather?s possessions. He had been our family?s gardener. I translated the diary from German to English and started to write and speak about our history. My grandchildren are captivated by my father?s story as are the audiences who hear me speak. When I found this diary I realized it was my role to be my father?s voice. My Father's Lost Diary: A Personal Account of the Jewish Holocaust in Europe (1937?1942) by Israel ?Sol? Goldhirsch