Holocaust Survivor Talk: Dana Schwartz (May 12, 2020)

Dana Schwartz was four years old when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union divided and occupied her native Poland. She was born in Lwow, which initially fell under Soviet occupation. In July 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union and occupied Lwow, and in November, established a ghetto in the former Jewish district of the city. The entire Jewish population, including Dana's family, was forced into the Lwow Ghetto. Dana’s father was able to organize false papers identifying Dana and her mother as Polish non-Jews. The two were able to escape from the ghetto with their new fake identity. They survived the remainder of the Holocaust with false identities in various hiding places outside of Lwow. After liberation, they returned to Lwow and sadly found no trace of her father. They soon immigrated to the United States and Dana studied to become a teacher and therapist. She became very active in the Shoah Foundation and in the leadership of Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust.