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Cast
Eva (Schick) Beckmann
Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia
Her husband to be, Fred Beckmann, brought her from Theresienstadt to Prague in 1945. In 1950, they were married. Together, they came to California in 1952 where she worked as a show room secretary in the “shmata” business. After having a daughter, Paulette, she became a full time mom. She and Fred traveled extensively and they shared a joint passion for art and culture. She has one daughter and three grandchildren. Eva recently celebrated her 94th birthday.
Erika (Engel) Jacoby
Born in Miscolc, Hungary
Erika was liberated with her mother on May 8th, 1945. Together, they returned to their home in Hungary. Erika came to New York where she married her husband, Emil Jacoby, a resistance fighter during the war, on Sept. 24th, 1950. She worked as a teacher before earning a graduate degree in social work. To this day, she counsels many Holocaust survivors. She has three sons, ten grandchildren and eighteen great grandchildren.
Rena (Honigman) Drexler
Born in Sosnowiec, Poland
Rena returned to Poland in August, 1945 to search for any surviving family members. She met her husband, Harry Drexler, in Munich in1947 and had a baby that same year. She came to California on March 13, 1951 where she opened Drexler’s Deli in the San Fernando Valley with her husband. They worked there together for 45 years. They had two children, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Rena spent her later years in great demand as a speaker in many Los Angeles area schools, where she shared her experiences during the war. Rena passed away in 2012.
Lili (nutkowicz) Majzner
Born in Lodz, Poland
Her husband to be, Szlama, walked from Buchenwald to Bergen Belsen to find Lili at liberation. Together, they went to Belgium where they were married in 1946. In 1951, they came to the United States where she worked as a teacher before having one daughter and eventually two grandchildren. Posthumously, she had two great grandchildren. Lili made good on her promise “to tell” about the Holocaust and her writings have been published in numerous magazines and books in both English and Yiddish. Lili passed away in 2009.
Renee (Weinfeld) Firestone
Born in Uzhorod, Czechoslovakia
After the war, Renee returned to Czechoslovakia. There, she was reunited with her brother and together they found their father, who passed away soon after. She was married in Prague in 1948, had one child and came to America the same year where she worked as a fashion designer until 1992. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art currently has Renee Firestone-designed clothing on display in their mid century fashion gallery. In1978, Renee became one of the first survivors to speak in public about her experiences for the Simon Wiesenthal Center. She continues to travel the world today as a speaker for Holocaust education, including a recent journey to Rwanda. In addition to one daughter, she has one grandchild and three great grandchildren.
Linda (Scheffer) Sherman
Born in Amsterdam, Holland
After three months working in a Russian hospital, she was handed over to the Americans who returned her to her home in Amsterdam. In 1947, she came to America and settled in California where she worked as a nanny. She met her husband, Eli, at a doughnut shop in Santa Monica and was married in 1948. In 1998, 53 years after liberation, she was reunited with her “camp sister” from Theresienstadt. She had three children and one grandchild. Linda passed away in 2009.
Q & A with Renee Firestone
This video is a question and answer session with Renee Firestone and Jon Kean following a screening of the film After Auschwitz