Address on Behalf of the Survivors, by Zipora Granat

I, Zipora Granat née Gerschenfisch, 87 years old, stand here before you filled with longing for my parents, who were murdered in Auschwitz.  

Perhaps it's strange to think that at my age I still miss my father and mother, but that is really the essence of my Holocaust story.

Before the war, I was part of a happy family living in France – Mother, Father and four children; I was the eldest.  I grew up in a house filled with warmth and love.  We didn't own much, but it was a cosy, Jewish home. The memory of my father blessing me under his tallit (prayer shawl) on Yom Kippur is one that has stayed with me to this day.