Judith Koeppel Steel escaped Germany with her family in 1939 aboard the MS St. Louis, only to be turned away by Cuba and the United States and sent back to Europe. She disembarked in Belgium and was imprisoned in the Gurs internment camp, and then hidden by a French Catholic couple who were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations decades later. In 1946, after learning that both her parents had been killed in Auschwitz, Judith was sent to the United States, where she was adopted by her aunt and uncle in New York and ultimately became a Cantor.
Join Judith and Jacqueline Smith, the Museum’s Manager of Gallery Education, for this Stories Survive program exploring Judith’s experience of rescue and survival.
Watch the program below.
Stories Survive is made possible by the Goldie and David Blanksteen Foundation.