Helen Epstein’s mother hid a glass container of cherries in the attic of a concentration camp in order to survive. This was just one of the many moments the writer shared from "Franci’s War," a memoir written by her mother, Franci Epstein, retelling her experiences at Terezin, a concentration camp and ghetto forty miles north of her home in Prague.
On Jan. 27, Epstein shared “Franci’s War” and her own insights on the Holocaust in a discussion event held by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Epstein is the daughter of Holocaust survivors and has written numerous books focusing on intergenerational trauma, including “Children of the Holocaust” and “Where She Came From.”
Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, moderated the talk with Epstein and later opened the floor to audience members. One of the first topics of conversation between Sedmak and Epstein involved the context of her mother’s book.
“Her last interaction with her father was just him screaming at her,” Epstein said. “[He was saying] ‘Who do you think you are, taking away my ability to control my life?’ My mother felt guilty her whole life.”
Epstein also described her mother’s resilience as characteristic of many women during that time period as seen through their close relationships. Epstein noted that most memoirs about survivors published after World War II were written by men, so “Franci’s War” is unique in providing a look into the concentration camps through the eyes of a woman.
“She really talks about how important relationships are — friendships and also sexual relationships,” Epstein said. “She really believed that is what got her through the war, talking to somebody else on a regular basis and relying on somebody else with mutual reliance.”
In addition to highlighting the relationships forged in the concentration camps, Epstein also discussed her mother’s obstacles to simply surviving in the camp site. She retold how her mother encountered the infamous Nazi doctor, Josef Mengele, known for deadly experiments on prisoners at Auschwitz. Franci lied about her profession to Mengele, saying she was an electrician instead of a fashion designer. Mengele believed her and she was made an electrician at a labor camp.
“When I was a kid, one of the key stories of my childhood was George Washington and the cherry tree, and he can’t tell a lie,” Epstein said. “I noticed, we hear 100 times a year ‘George Washington never told a lie,’ which of course, is nonsense, but that's what we believe. And here was my mother whose key story was, ‘I told a lie and it saved my life.’”
As the discussion transitioned into audience questions, some individuals asked Epstein about the similarities between survivors of the Holocaust and other communities impacted by systemic oppression. She discussed the interconnectedness of resilience and damage.
“People talk about resilience and although there’s resilience, there’s also damage,” Epstein said. “It’s all mixed up together. People who survived were both damaged and resilient, as are people who are discriminated against anywhere.”
Moving forward to future generations and descendants of Holocaust survivors, Epstein said she is unsure of how younger generations will react to the Holocaust. When considering the population as a whole, Epstein noted that the third or even fourth generation of survivors can be less focused on the Holocaust while others are considerably more affected.
Despite an uncertainty with how the Holocaust will impact future generations, Epstein emphasized the importance of continued learning and encouraged further reading of the Holocaust and interacting with unfamiliar communities to develop a better understanding.
“I believe in meeting people who aren’t like you,” Epstein said. “I find I've always had friends from lots of different backgrounds, lots of different traditions and I continue to be like that. I like meeting different kinds of people and I think that's what this country is about and what makes it a country.”
