-
1930's
Hitler and the nazi party are telling Germany that "Jews are a diseased race" -
October 4, 1934
Lola was born -
1938
A German officer was killed by a jew. This sets off a backlash called the night of Broken Glass -
Summer 1939
Czortkow starts having rolling blackouts. All the street lights are turned off, and Jews tape black paper over the windows so German bombers can't see them when flying overhead -
Europe 1939
Six Million Jews died during WWII, 1 1/2 million of those Jews were children. Adults had a 33% chance While children had a 10% chance -
September 1, 1939
Hitler invades Poland where 3.3 Million Jews are living -
September 1939
Lola is free to walk around in the Marketplace with her mother -
September 17 1939
The Russians take over the town -
1941
The rest of the world doesn't know that Hitler had a plan to kill all Jews called "The Final Solution" -
Spring 1941
Lola is six and a half years old and is going to nursery school at her father's cousins's house. About a dozen other kids are going to the house -
July 6, 1941
Germans invade Czortkow and take it from the Russians with Soldiers and tanks on a Sunday -
October 15, 1941
The Germans made a law that says that sheltering and giving Jews food and clothes is punishable by death -
December 7 1941
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in Hawaii bringing the Americans into WWII -
April 1942
All the Jews in Czortkow are confined to a Ghetto. You can't leave without the proper paperwork. -
Summer 1942
Lolas' father dies at home -
August 26 - 27 1942
The first action comes, For Germans it means a day for collecting a large amount of Jews and sending them on trains to concentration camps. Lola, her mother, and grandmother hide in a narrow space between an apartment and a storage room. -
March 21, 1943
Today is Purim, a Jewish holiday. Lola's mother, a cousin, and 2 other women were killed by a German soldier enacting revenge on another soldier going into his territory and shooting his Jews. -
May 1943
A few months after Lolas' mother was shot, Babcia takes Lola aside and tells her that she is sneaking out alone without her. Then a woman comes for her, her name is Tekla. -
Spring 1943
Teklas' son-in-laws work in the fields. Tekla warns if she hears the dog bark, go under her bed -
June of 1943
Lolas' grandmother dies from the last "action" with the rest of the Jews in Czortkow. -
Summer 1943
Lola sits in the living room because the dog never barked. A couple walks in. Noticing them, Lola pretends to be a deaf-mute and the couple leaves her alone. One of the son-in-laws says that he is taking her to the gestapo tomorrow. Later that night, Tekla takes her to her sister, Anna. Anna stuffs her in a 6.5 by 6.5 FT hole with three other Jews -
January 1944
Anna tells Lola and the others that Hitler is losing the war and Russia is taking back their territory. -
March 1944
Lola and the others hear fighting nearby and Tekla tells them that the russians are winning. -
One morning March 1944
Lola and the others crawl out of the hole after hearing Tekla saying that we were "liberated" from the Germans -
March 10
Russians liberated Czortkow from the Germans. -
March 26, 1944
Lola hears other people spread rumors that the Germans are coming back. The Germans eventually Come back for a few days -
April 4
Lola follows a Crowd because she got kicked out by Rose. Lola is only 9 and a half years old. She eventually gets put on the back of a man who knew her father. He drops her off at a house with Russian soldiers. They eventually dropped her off at an orphanage in Dzymalow. -
Summer 1944
The Germans completely disappeared from the town after a few several days -
June 6
The Americans Ally with the British, Russians, and the Australians -
May 7
Hitler committed Suicide, a week later, The Germans surrender. This is now known as "V-E Day". -
Summer 1945
Poles and Ukrainians are still killing Jews even though the War is over -
Early August 1945
America bombs Hiroshima and Nagasaki with "Fat Man" and "Little Boy". They then surrender a few weeks later. -
August 14
Today is now known as "V-J Day". -
September 1945
Lola gets on a train with a man named Romek to Krakow to meet her Uncle George. She feels emotionally numb when she sees the family that she didn't know were still alive. -
Late Summer 1945
Lola's Uncle Isaac shows up at Uncle George's house. They don't stay long because of the tension between the Poles and the Jews didn't go away even after a year after the war ending. -
Autumn 1946
Lola and her family were crossing borders illegally to escape the prosecution of Jews. -
December 1946 -- January 1947
Lola finds herself in Eschwege, Germany in a DP camp. Lola wants to go to Israel instead of America. Uncle George doesn't want her to be on her own because he still sees her as a child. -
September 1949
Lola starts High school but drops out to work full-time because she takes care of herself and not asking her aunt and uncle for anything -
July 1949
Lola finally gets Clearance to travel to America. Uncle George and his family waited because they got theirs the year prior. -
September 1950
Lola graduated at 16 with her Comptometer operator certificate. She starts working at Saks 34th Street working during the day and doing school at night. -
October 1951
Lola goes to Brighton Beach where she finds her husband. He is 11 years older than her but he is from Poland. -
April 1942
Lola and Walter get married. Lola eventually goes back to school to gets her high school Diploma -
1955
Lola is 21 and works until the birth of her first child, Deborah Renee. She was named after her mother Dworja and after Walters' mother Rachel. They live in a small one-room apartment. -
1958
Lola's second child, Micheal Jay. He is named after Lola's and Walter's Fathers. Walter went to Design school for coats and suit patterns. They moved to the suburbs in Long Island -
1966
Lola gives birth to her third child, Jeffery Scott. He is named after Lola's paternal grandfather and her oldest uncle -
November 21, 1993
Anna Aksenczuk, the non-Jew who hid Lola in the hole, was officially recognized as one of the "righteous" with her son, Bohdan, and her husband. -
2001
Lola received a letter from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. looking for artifacts that survived the war. Lola donates her dress that she wore for 9 months. -
2002
Lola's dress travels to different states and cities. Lola travels with it and Sara Bloomfield where Sara gets Lola to speak publicly about the events of WWII and the dress -
Oct 1, 2014
Lola meets the heavenly father at 79. She died peacfully