Charlene Schiff

Charlene Schiff was born Shulamit Perlmutter in 1929 in Horochow, Poland. She was nicknamed Musia, and was the youngest of 2 daughters. Her father was a philosophy professor.

In 1941, Germany occupied Horochow, Poland where Charlene and her family lived. Soon they began searching for people who were Jewish leaders. They made it clear that they planned on murdering Jews. Within a few days, they broke into Charlene's house and captured her father. He never even got a chance to say goodbye to his family. Then, with rumors of the Ghetto where they lived being destroyed, Charlene and her mother fled to the brush around the river. They hid there with other Jews for several days as the Germans searched for them. One day when Charlene was sleeping, her mother disappeared and she was never found again. For the rest of the war, she lived in many different places around Horochow, often in the forest, scavenging for food anywhere she could.

"They caught him and led him away. He never even said goodbye. I'll never forget that look in his eyes."

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Charlene Schiff struggled a lot in order to survive. She spent most of the war in hiding. During this time, she lived in the forest, and slept in a ditch she had made herself. For food, she would go into the nearby towns and scavenge in trash and anywhere she could to get some scraps. While she was doing all this, she had to be very careful not to be spotted, as the Germans would quickly take her to a concentration camp. One time she was sheltered in a barn of hay by a nice woman, but had to leave quickly when the lady was murdered because of a suspicion she was hiding Jews. Another time Charlene was almost caught by a sort of bounty hunter seeking the reward for a Jew's capture. During this time, life was a constant struggle but Charlene Schiff managed to stay optimistic.

"1941, early summer, was when the world became completely topsy-turvy for the Jews."

"Fear and suspicion saved me that time. I learned a hard lesson: do not trust anyone."

Sources:

http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/phistories/phi_individuals_charlene_schiff_uu.htm

http://www.ushmm.org/remembrance/survivoraffairs/memory/detail.php?content=schiff

http://www.tisaraphoto.com/legends/Schiff.htm

http://tinyurl.com/ca3ouum

http://tinyurl.com/cauywjr

I think Charlene Schiff is someone we can all learn from. She has demonstrated a lot of courage in her life time. Her town was in the enemies hands, and her parents were gone, but she stayed optimistic. She deserves a lot of respect and honor for her actions, and also just because she somehow managed to survive the Holocaust despite being constantly hunted by the Nazis.

Charlene Schiff

Charlene Schiff was born Shulamit Perlmutter in 1929 in Horochow, Poland. She was nicknamed Musia, and was the youngest of 2 daughters. Her father was a philosophy professor