The Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center Speaker: Shelley Greenspan

Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center Memory Keepers: GenerationsForward Speaker Series-Shelley Greenspan

Shelley Greenspan will speak at the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center’s Memory Keepers GenerationsForward Cocktail Hour on December 17 at 7 p.m. via Zoom from the safety and comfort of your own home.

Shelley is the only child of two Holocaust survivors from Northern Transylvania, which is present day Romania.  The region was taken over by Hungary in 1940, where anti-Jewish laws were imposed.  The community survived until the Germans occupied Hungary in 1944.  On the eve of the Allies victory, the Jews of Northern Transylvania were concentrated into Ghettos and, within several weeks, were transported to Auschwitz.

Shelley tells the story of her mother, Lilly, who survived two concentration camps thanks to the love and support of her older sister, Sarah, who was with her throughout the war.  Shelley’s older daughter, Emily, also tells Lilly’s story through her presentation with 3GNY, an educational organization founded by grandchildren of survivors to preserve the legacies and lessons of the Holocaust.  Shelley and Emily traveled to Romania in 2019 through the Tarbut Foundation Sighet to commemorate the 75^th anniversary of the deportation of Jews.  While there, they traveled to Lilly’s childhood home, Bora.  Her home is now a post office.

Shelley was born in the Bronx and lived in New Jersey and Israel.  She spent her professional life in international banking.  When she retires, she plans to work on her father’s story, learn Yiddish, and travel to Europe to learn more about her parents’ past.

For Zoom log-in information, please email Millie Jasper mjasper@hhrecny.org