Gerda Weissmann Klein
| Gerda Weissmann Klein | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gerda Weissmann May 8, 1924 Bielsko, Poland |
| Occupation | Writer, human rights activist |
| Spouse | Kurt Klein (1946–2002) |
Gerda Weissmann Klein (born Gerda Weissmann, May 8, 1924, Bielsko, Poland) is a Polish-born American writer and human rights activist. Her autobiographical account of the Holocaust, All but My Life (1957), was adapted for the 1995 short film, One Survivor Remembers, which received an Academy Award and an Emmy Award, and was selected for the National Film Registry. She married Kurt Klein (1920–2002) in 1946. The Kleins became advocates of Holocaust education and human rights, dedicating most of their lives to promoting tolerance and community service. A naturalized U.S. citizen, Gerda Weissmann Klein also founded Citizenship Counts, a nonprofit organization that champions the value and responsibilities of American citizenship. She has served on the governing board of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which features her testimony in a permanent exhibit. On February 15, 2011, Klein was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2013, she published a children's adventure story called The Windsor Caper, which had remained hidden away since the 1980s, when it was a weekly serial in The Buffalo News.
Born in 1924 in Bielsko (now Bielsko-Biała), Poland, a town known for its textile industry, Gerda Weissmann was educated first in public school and then in a Catholic school for girls. She was one of two children born to a middle-class Jewish family; her father, Julius Weissmann, was a business executive, and her mother, Helene (née Mueckenbrunn), was a homemaker.
On September 3, 1939, German troops invaded fifteen-year-old Gerda's home in Bielsko, Poland. Shortly after the invasion began, the family received a telegram from Gerda's uncle saying that the Germans were advancing quickly, and the family should leave Poland immediately. However, Gerda's father had just suffered a heart attack, and doctors advised that he not be moved or subjected to undue stress.
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