Holocaust & WWII | Jewish Heritage Center

Those of our narrators who were old enough to remember World War II recalled life during wartime America. While experiencing shortages and privation at home, they had little awareness of what was happening across the ocean—perhaps because they were children sheltered by their families and communities, perhaps because Americans in general weren’t receiving adequate information about the Holocaust. Many narrators said their understanding of the Holocaust came only later, as survivors and refugees began to move into their neighborhoods.

Hear about World War II & the Holocaust

Ethel Sinofsky and her father at Brookledge Street in Roxbury, 1945, image courtesy of Ethel Sinofsky.

Mollie, Linda, and Sydney Finkelstein at Bellingham Street in Chelsea, circa 1954, image courtesy of Norman Finkelstein.

“We knew bad things were happening to our people, and for that reason, World War II, to the kids of the neighborhood, was personal.”

“We knew that it was terrible for Jews, but we didn’t know the extent of it.”

“People just didn’t want to talk about experiences in World War II.”

“When World War II was on, and there were rumors about what was going on to the Jews ...”

“I remember ... the supermarket that we occasionally went to, deeper in West Lynn, had some Spry—and the word went up and down the street like anything, and everybody was so excited...”