17 Jan 2010 Holocaust survivor Margit Meissner

Margit was born February 26, 1922 in Innsbruck, Austria, and her family moved to Prague, Czechoslovakia when she was a baby. Her father was a banker from a religious Jewish family in Bohemia and her mother came from a Viennese family of Jewish origin. In 1938, attacks on Jews in central Europe escalated, and she left secondary school in Prague for Paris, France. When Paris fell to the Germans in 1940, Margit set out alone in search of her mother, who was in a detention camp on the Spanish border, during one of the most dangerous times in history.

Her detailed account of the incidences surrounding this horrendous time will captivate audiences in a way only a true living piece of history can. 2009’s survivor presentations were standing room only, so guests are encouraged to arrive early. More information on Margit and other survivors can be found at www.ushmm.org.