In 1939, Jews enjoyed a vibrant, diverse,
rich and active life throughout Europe.
They raised families, ran their businesses
- dreamed and planned, loved and grieved.
What the Jews could not know was that the
normal rhythm of their daily lives would soon
come to an abrupt end.
On September 1st 1939, Nazi Germany invaded
neighboring Poland and began their conquest
of the European continent.
A new online exhibition on Yad Vashem web site tells the stories of Jewish families on the brink of war.
1939 - Young Jula Piotrkowski is separated
from her boyfriend Elias who left Łódź for
the Land of Israel.
In a message to him, she expresses her heartbreak
regarding his departure.
After the Germans conquer Poland, Jula and
her family are sent to the Łódź ghetto, not
knowing what their fate will be.
Felix Nussbaum, born to patriotic German Jews,
enrolls at the prestigious Berlin Art Academy,
where he soon realizes there is no future
for Jews in Germany.
In his 1939 work, The Great Disaster, he depicts
the dramatic change that Hitler’s rise to
power set into motion, casting the Jews of
Europe into a web of doom and uncertainty.
February 1939 - Surrounded by family, friends
and members of the Jewish community, Lazar
Kasorla marries Karolina Daniel in Thessaloniki.
After the Germans occupy Greece, Lazar and
Karolina, along with the Jews of Thessaloniki,
suffer anti-Jewish persecution and humiliation.
Their future is unclear.
