Hope during the Holidays

While hiding from Nazi persecution of Jews, two-year-old Norbert Obstfeld and his mother, Lea, celebrated Christmas with their rescuers. Teenager Gerda Weissmann fashioned a menorah out of potatoes to observe Hanukkah while imprisoned at the Bolkenhain forced labor camp. Although she didn’t have candles to light, her spiritual resistance ignited a flame of hope among her fellow prisoners for brighter days ahead. On December 9, 2022, Museum historians discussed how people defied the oppressive Nazi regime by commemorating holidays during the Holocaust. Guest Dr. Lindsay MacNeill, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Host Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum