Finding Myself in the Holocaust, with Janet Singer Applefield

Singer Applefield on the show today. As a child survivor of the Holocaust and social worker, Janet Singer Applefield has spent over 40 years speaking with 1000s of students, educators, religious groups, government officials, and others to raise awareness and understanding of the dangers of prejudice and encouraging audiences to stand up any kind of discrimination and leave a legacy of acceptance and love. Love that part, or memoir Becoming Janet, Finding Myself

in the Holocaust is available now. So Janet, let's dig right in. It's such an honor to have you here. The word Holocaust conjures up so many emotions for people, even now, almost 80 years later, you have an incredibly unique vantage point

as an actual survivor of that event. So tell us about your perspective and share your story of how old you were when when your home in Poland was invaded, or your small town was impacted what happened to your family and how this whole thing came about for you that you're still a survivor? Janet Singer Applefield: Well, I was born in Krakow, Poland, and I lived with my family in a little town, 50 miles south of the city of Krakow. And I had a wonderful idyllic childhood,

first grandchild and the family I was loved. I was pampered September 1 1939. All this came to an abrupt end. At first, my family tried many, many attempts to escape, we first ran, ran away to Russia, then we returned. And after so many attempts to to escape, my parents ran out of options. And they made this amazing, most difficult decision of their lives. And that is to give me a way and score this several, several years. After that three and a half years to be exact. I

was with different caregivers. I was away from my family, my identity was changed several times. And I ended up on the street that was abandoned. And that was picked up by a righteous Christian woman ended up on a farm where I spend most of the time with very kind people. I always knew I was Jewish, but I was able to keep an identified Jewish identity as secret. I was just seven years old when I was separated from my parents. But I was able to keep that a secret. And I ended up in

an orphanage after the war. And miraculously my dad found me. No way. But he found me. And we eventually emigrated to the United States. So talk to me. So when you were seven years old, do you remember coming back from Russia and what it was like to be separated that actual day or was a kind of a big blur? Janet Singer Applefield: I remember only that I was, I was crying. My parents were crying. We were hugging. We were kissing. My parents said we will be reunited soon, I should be

brave, and I should be good. And that's what I remember about that fateful day. And then that lady that became your friend and helped you did she become almost like a motherly figure, or was she more of a friend? Janet Singer Applefield: Well she was a very kind woman, and I wanted to call her mother and she said to me, you only have one mother called me. And so I called her aunt ganja. And when the war ended, my cousin's father, I was with my cousin who

was very brutal to me. First, I was with a one person, one woman. And then my care was taken over by a cousin who was brutal and violent and abused me. The war ended her dad Sandy, but he turned me over to a refugee center in Krakow. And that's where I ended up. And from there, I went in an orphanage, and my father found me. So when you were reunited with your father, he had been in the slave labor camp. And when he found you, he insisted you give him all the details of the time you were

separated so he can make sure it was documented. It was those handwritten pages rediscovered years later that started the new road of discovery for you. How was your father able to survive? What what happened to your mother and what was it like rediscovering the details of your escape as an adult? What was it like?

Janet Singer Applefield: Well, it was very, very sad and very tragic, because the day that they gave me away, there was an order issued that all the people from that town and the surrounding towns had three days to report in an area outside of Krakow called via each guy. So they went there. Although independently because they decided to separate from each other, their thinking was that if they were separate, maybe one of them would survive. So when they arrived at that appointed

place, there was a selection. And my father was one of 1000 men, they were selected for slave labor, and other approximately 1000 old people and children were selected, and they were directly taken to the forest and shot. And the remaining people were putting onto boxcars, 53 boxcars, and my mother was a victim of that selection. And they were sent to Belle's that's a death camp. And so my mother and my grandmother, my many of my relatives were victims of that camp.

How were you able to find all that stuff out? Janet Singer Applefield: So my story has evolved over time, I first thought that my mother was killed in Auschwitz. And then later on, I thought she was shot. But in 2012, I was contacted by a young Polish historian, she had lived in my town, and she always wondered what happened to the Jewish population of that town, and she found me on the internet. And after we were reunited, I learned that she was doing, she

was writing a dissertation on the Holocaust. And she did a huge amount of research on my family. She was the one who found out exactly what happened to all my family members, not only my mom, but my grandparents and uncles and other family members. So you are actually able to reunite with some of the people who will help rescue you during that time, right? Janet Singer Applefield: Yes, I've been back to Poland four

times. And each time that ship has been a little different. For me the first time, I was obviously very nervous, and I really didn't want to enjoy myself. And I didn't consider it a vacation. I knocked on the door of the family that saved me not knowing who I would find. And they were still there in the same apartment, and greeted me with open arms. Each time I had been in Poland, I've spoken in different places. And I'm I was reunited with a family that saved me. Wow. And it was very

emotional. My family stayed downstairs and I climbed up three flights of steps, and I knocked on the door. And you know, they opened the door, and the parents were already deceased, but the children, the adult children are still there. And it was very emotional. Then my family came up, and then they pulled out photographs of me, which was amazing. You know, my family couldn't believe I was there, you know, seven years old.

Wow, you say the experience changed both your sense of your gratitude, and also a sense of your own identity. And what identity really means. Can you explain about what identity means? Janet Singer Applefield: Well, for me, it was very confusing having to change my name several times, it was a loss, because I didn't understand what was happening here. And no one really explained what was going on I being so young, I didn't

have the concept of of war, what it really meant. So it's been slightly hard for me to adjust to the different names and except those names, because when I came to this country, the first day of school, my uncle brought me to a school. And he said to me, what name do you want, you have to have an American name. So right on the spot, I had to choose a name again, right again. So I chose to name I said, Jeanette,

because I had a we had a French cousin who lived in Paris. She used to visit us in the summertime and she was beautiful and glamorous. She had long red nails and her name was Jeanette. So I said Janet, and my uncle turned to the school secretary and said her name is Janet. Lee, I was Janet. So over time, you know, I thought about changing back my name by that I never did. What was your original name? Janet Singer Applefield: I was born Gustavo. And then my family

company Gija, which means baby. Okay, but I was never Gustavo again. That still has a place in your heart. Janet Singer Applefield: It does. What was your last name? Janet Singer Applefield: Singer. So that's why you have the singer still in the middle, right? Janet Singer Applefield: Yes. So you later earned your Master of Social Work at Boston University and practice as a clinical social worker in the court system with perpetrators of the crimes in

the Boston area for 30 years. How did your own personal experience impact your ability to be effective in that work and why was it such a passion and a mission for you? Janet Singer Applefield: I always try to understand human nature. I didn't understand what what made people, some people, evil and others good. And I chose a profession of social work because I thought I could do a little research and get a

better understanding of people and human nature. Because so many survivors turn to the helping prevent professions. It's really interesting. Did you find as you are going through that work, a sense of forgiveness for the people that wronged your family? Or is there still a piece of your heart that has a hard time with that? Janet Singer Applefield: I am very fortunate, because my dad,

who was my hero did not believe in general responsibility. The he felt that there were good Germans and bad Germans, good poles, bad poles. And because of that, I adopted the same philosophy. I judge people on the basis of their character and actions. I will never forget what happened. But I'm not hateful. And of course, I can't, I don't know who I can forgive. You know, for me, Forgiveness means that someone has to acknowledge what they did wrong, and then have some remorse. And

then I could forgive. But there's no one yet I can forgive. I totally understand. You know, our show is called Let's Talk legacy. And legacy is such an important part for so many people. And I'm curious, what does legacy mean to you? Janet Singer Applefield: Well, Legacy means that what I leave behind has some meaning. I speak to 1000s of people a year that approximately 4000 Students must say, students, middle school and

high school. And I feel that it's my responsibility to try to stop hate to impress, awareness and understanding of the history and inspire people to to be good people. Because you know, what's interesting about my memoir is that ordinary people did wonderful things and terrible things. And I think I want people to know that and understand that. Even the smallest acts of kindness have a ripple effect.

Has there been, you know, from all of your speaking that you've done at the schools and to adults, is there a story that you can recall of someone that you did make an impact with that it changed their life, it changed their community? You heard the story later on how or what you had to say change the way they thought or did it reform anybody?

Janet Singer Applefield: A student came up to me, Mary, she purposely in the sauna secretly, after I spoke to her an auditorium filled with 1100 students, this young man came up. And he asked, he said, How do I speak to my family who are racist? Because here in school, I'm learning about being a good person, and accepting people for who they are, and not be hateful. And then at home, I hear otherwise, how do I speak to them? To them? I was very touched that he trusted me. And

he was able to ask that question. And I gave him few suggestions. And later on, he emailed me, and I was very fortunate and very happy that he was able to engage his family in a conversation that was ongoing. And I'm not sure if he completely changed their minds, but at least they were having a conversation. Wow, I get chills just hearing that. Because that's it's little small steps at a time, right. Janet Singer Applefield: And I've had so many students write

to me 1000s of letters. One girl wrote, You are so brave, and you've helped me to be braver. You know, we all have stories, and we all deal with difficult circumstances in our lives. It's what you do with those experiences. Right? You say that retelling your story in the story of the Holocaust as a whole represents a connection between the past and the present, and that it's important for preserving the Jewish legacy and able to make sure people

must never forget what happened. Talk to us about the connection between the past and the present. Janet Singer Applefield: Well, sadly the world today is very divided more so than ever in my lifetime. And I think hearing my experiences and hopefully learning some lessons from that. Hopefully it does help some people to change and to be proactive and stand up to injustice. And I think Today, we all need to be proactive and stand up to hatred. We do, we do. You know, you're just a child when

you had to face score, I mean horror. How do parents and educators talk to children about difficult topics like hate speech and prejudice and other evils in the world? Because there's so many parents that listen to our show? And how do you have those conversations that are just really difficult ones to have? Janet Singer Applefield: I admit, they're very difficult. But I think it's important to speak with children. Because I remember, in my situation, my parents did not explain what was

going on. I just knew something terrible and dangerous was happening, because they were crying, they were whispering, because they didn't want me to know what was happening. So I think it's important for children to be to have have some explanation of what's happening. And the conversation has to be geared to the appropriate age, you know, the language has to be correct, so that the children are not frightened, I think it

has to be a conversation that ends with some hopefulness. And that is not very negative, even though events in our news is very negative, we still have to be careful how we speak to our children. Absolutely. So obviously, part of your legacy is tied to continuing to speak for the legacy of others, both other survivors as well as those who did not survive. What would you say is the other part of your legacy? What is an individual legacy that you'd like to leave behind?

Janet Singer Applefield: Well, I'm very honored and proud, because I was invited to speak to the Massachusetts State Legislature in 2021. Right after that a law was passed genocide education mandate, to provide this education to all middle schools and high schools. So only 23 states in our country have passed such laws. So I'm very proud of that. Wow. And to think that they're states that don't want to teach it. It's it's....

Janet Singer Applefield: There's states that have banned books that teach important subjects. Wow. Yeah. Well, that's a huge legacy. Janet Singer Applefield: I think it's important to be informed, to be proactive, to be kind, and do as much as one can to promote social justice. How can people reach you if they needed to get a hold of you, or wanted to ask you some questions or get a copy of your book. How would people get a hold of you?

Janet Singer Applefield: I have a website, JanetApplefield.com. Then I'm on social media, Facebook, and Instagram. And that handle is at Janet Applefield. And through the website of the book is available on Amazon and on Barnes and Noble and all the other bookstores. Well I'm definitely ordering a copy of your book and can't wait to read it. Janet Singer Applefield: Oh thank you so much.

Thank you so much for what you're doing for the people in our country and in our world for educating them on what happened and really looking at themselves to not be prejudiced and be the best you can be to accept everybody for who they are. So thank you so much. Janet Singer Applefield: Thank you so much for having me.