Perspectives for Our Time

Estelle Glaser Laughlin is a child Holocaust survivor who was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1929. We are marking the Polish translation of her book Transcending Darkness: A Girl’s Journey Out of the Holocaust. This interview and other testimonies by Mrs. Laughlin will constitute a curriculum unit for Polish High school students.

In September 1939, Estelle’s family lived in Warsaw when Poland was attacked.. Along with her parents and sister, Freda, they were confined to the 1.3 square mile Ghetto area. The book recounts their struggle to survive in the Ghetto during the deportations from July to September 1942. In April of 1943, their bunker was discovered leading to their brutal transport to Majdanek concentration camp. Estelle survives with her mother and sister through other forced labor camps, Starzysko and Chestochowa.

We will note chapter 14, “The Old Woman in Kielce,” in the book – a moment of mercy.

In 1947, 18-year-old Estelle and her remaining family emigrated to the United States. She acquired an education and began teaching in public school three years later.

“REVENGE OR GUILT IS NOT THE ISSUE. RESPONSIBILITY IS AN OBLIGATION, AND WE ARE LEFT WITH A LEGACY TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND, IF CIVILIZATION IS TO PROGRESS.”
(ESTELLE GLASER LAUGHLIN)

INTERVIEW PANEL:
Mary Oler (educator) in Chicago
Marek Jezowski (translator) in Warsaw
Bogdan Bialek (publisher) in Kielce

BUY THE BOOK HERE:
https://www.ttupress.org/9780896729803/transcending-darkness/