My parents, Ignas and Hala; my sister Yvonne; my Uncle Hipek and Aunt Zosia; and my grandmother Julia Krakowiak are not listed on any of the Portuguese Consulate register pages created during those tumultuous days in 1940, when Aristides de Sousa Mendes gave a second chance at life to thousands of desperate refugees.
This testimonial recorded on January 1, 1989 in New York is proof that my family was among them.
Hala died never knowing whom to thank. Aristides de Sousa Mendes died never receiving the expressions of gratitude that thousands would have liked to have shown him.
This is my homage to them.
A Family Chronicle of Rescue and Loss During World War II