Contributing Authors
Back row, left to right: Ruth Taubman, Avishay Hayut, Sassa Åkervall, Julie Goldstein Ellis, Rita Benn, Phil Barr Middle row, left to right: Nancy Szabo, Ruth Wade, Ava Adler, Joy Wolfe Ensor, Fran Lewy Berg, Eszter Gombosi Front row, left to right: Simone Yehuda, Irene Hasenberg Butter, Natalie Iglewicz, Cilla Tomas
Foreword by Irene Hasenberg Butter
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Ava Dee Adler
Ava Dee Adler, MSW grew up outside of Detroit and moved to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan, earning both Bachelor’s and Master of Social Work degrees. Her career included work with children in foster care, addiction, and medical social work. Ava and her husband, chef Burt Steinberg, raised their nephews, Matthew Powondra and Zachary Adler, and now have grandchildren Sasha, Levi, Ezra, Maya, and Nora. Ava has a passion for social justice and loves dance, theater, movies, and books. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
Sassa Åkervall
Sassa Åkervall was born in Sweden to a Holocaust-survivor mother. Her professional background began in the media. Sassa worked in television, as a freelance writer, and is a published author of children’s books. After moving with her husband and two small children to Ann Arbor in 2004, her career changed. Currently, she is running their family company which she started at the kitchen table a decade ago. The company manufactures and produces dental protection, invented by her physician husband. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
Phil Barr
Phil Barr, MPH met his wife Julie in the Detroit Zionist Movement. They moved first to San Francisco, where Phil became enamored with technology, then spent seven years living in Israel, on Kibbutz G’vulot and Kiryat Tivon, before settling in Ann Arbor. Their children Maya and David are both married, and have given them three beautiful granddaughters, Evie, Margo, and Sylvia. Phil is a mechanic, tinkerer, sailor, programmer, and avid gardener, and works primarily in Healthcare IT Consulting. Julie, though retired from public education, remains forever the teacher and voice for social justice. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
Rita Benn (Editor)
Rita Benn, PhD is a clinical psychologist and adjunct faculty at the University of Michigan. Her academic career focused on developing early intervention policies for the State of Michigan and educational programs in Integrative Medicine. More recently, she established several local non-profits to promote the benefits of practice of mindfulness meditation in Michigan where she teaches mindfulness to education and healthcare professionals and cancer patients. Rita and her husband Stephen, both originally from Montreal, have three children and four grandchildren. In her spare time, Rita enjoys painting, writing poetry, and yoga. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
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Fran Lewy Berg
Fran Lewy Berg, PhD grew up in Montreal and moved to Ann Arbor for graduate study at the University of Michigan. She is a clinical psychologist. Her husband Mark is retired from a multifaceted career in development and research. Their daughter Cara is a Doctor of Nursing Practice, and they have a beautiful granddaughter, Ruth. Fran is currently writing her memoir, Impact: The Story of a Daughter of Survivors, from which the chapter in this book was adapted. She loves photography, kayaking, and hiking. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
Julie Goldstein Ellis (Editor)
Julie Goldstein Ellis, a graduate of the University of Michigan, has spent her life in Ann Arbor devoted to her family, volunteerism, elder care, and managing a consulting company. Her husband Charles is an emeritus professor at the University of Michigan Medical School. Their son Jonathan is an editor at The New York Times and their daughter-in-law Aly is a social media editor in New York City. Julie and her sister, Susan Goldstein, are dedicated to following in their survivor parents’ footsteps to keep their extended family of many generations of cousins connected. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
Joy Wolfe Ensor (Editor)
Joy Wolfe Ensor, PhD is a psychologist whose clinical, teaching, and leadership activities over forty-plus years have centered on the social determinants of health and the multi-generational legacy of trauma. She grew up in New York City and has lived in Ann Arbor since 1973. This writing project has deepened her attachment to Kraków, her ancestral home. Joy and her husband Doug, a fellow psychologist, have two daughters and one granddaughter. Joy has studied classical piano since age six and still tackles pieces that are a stretch for her little fingers to play. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
Myra Sue Fox
Myra Sue Fox was a poet, musician, special education teacher, and fierce advocate for social justice. Her parents were Polish Jews who survived concentration camps. The presence of the survivor community as her extended family informed Myra of its rich Yiddish culture. Myra built a strong community around herself reflecting her congregation, her artistic passions, and her commitment to the children she served. When Myra succumbed to cancer in 2018, she was surrounded by her congregational family who sang to her and cared for her. Generations After continues to be inspired by her memory. Myra is survived by her son Joe. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
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Eszter Gombosi
Eszter Gombosi was born, raised, and educated in Hungary where her parents returned after their liberation from concentration camps. In 1979, her husband accepted a postdoctoral position at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he is currently a Distinguished University Professor of Space Science. Eszter spent her career as a mathematician at the University of Michigan, designing and implementing data management projects in the medical setting. She has two children and six grandchildren and is now retired. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
Avishay Hayut
Avishay Hayut was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. After completing his army service, he became a physical therapist and immigrated to New Jersey to further his education. In 1996, he met and married Regina Lambert-Hayut, a cantor who brought him to Ann Arbor for her job at Temple Beth Emeth. They have two college-age sons, Yoav and Alon, who study music. Avishay loves music, playing the guitar, participating in choir, and accompanying Regina at Temple services. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
Natalie L. Iglewicz
Natalie L. Iglewicz was raised in suburban Detroit. Her loving parents, both Holocaust survivors, led by example in valuing hard work, respect for others, and kindness. Natalie received degrees from the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Wayne State University. Recently retired, Natalie was an educator for thirty-eight years. Her students included adjudicated youth and those with learning differences. Natalie and her husband, Reed Newland, live with their two children and two dogs in Ann Arbor. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
Nancy Szabo
Nancy Szabo is a teacher, artist, and poet. She grew up in Rockville, Maryland, with her father, a refugee from Hungary, her mother, and brother. Nancy received her BA from Wesleyan University, MS in Public Health from Harvard, and MA in Teaching from Johns Hopkins. Nancy has called Ann Arbor home since 2004. Her husband is a law professor at the University of Michigan. They have two children, Ben and Isabel. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
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Ruth Taubman
Ruth Taubman is a jewelry designer working in Ann Arbor, New York, and California. She has a BFA from the University of Michigan School of Art, where she has taught in its Jewelry and Metals program. She has two sons and two stepsons with her partner, Steven Russman. She facilitated the publication of her survivor mother’s memoir My Story. Ruth’s zeal for life, drive, and positive nature are expressions of the legacy she carries forward from her parents, Lola and Sam. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
Cilla Tomas
Cilla Tomas, MSW grew up in Bern, Switzerland, and was a social worker in a psychiatric hospital near Zurich before immigrating to the US. She earned a graduate degree at the University of Michigan and worked for another fifteen years in the US, after which she launched a second career as a financial advisor. With her husband Jim Hallock, Cilla has a son, a stepdaughter, and three grandchildren. Now retired, she enjoys political activism, travel, hiking, fiber arts, movies, and reading. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
Ruth Finkel Wade (Editor)
Ruth Wade is a retired training and development executive. She currently volunteers at the Florida Holocaust Museum as a speaker and docent. Ruth also assists her Holocaust survivor father, Sidney Finkel, with the management of his speaking engagements and book Sevek and the Holocaust: The Boy Who Refused to Die. She grew up in Chicago, spent more than twenty years living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and now lives in Largo, Florida. Ruth’s son Ike is a data scientist with a degree from the University of Michigan. Excerpt and photo gallery » |
Simone Naomi Yehuda
Simone Naomi Yehuda, PhD, Professor Emeritus of English at Siena Heights University, has written two books of poetry, Thaw, and Lifting Water. A third, Pieces of Thunder, will be published next year. A multi-produced playwright, her play Willing was produced Off-Broadway. She’s now a screenwriter developing three thrillers, The New Eve, Jerusalem Road and Love and Homicide. Simone lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with her husband, historian Barry Michael Shapiro. Her twin daughters, physician Valerie Gabriella Press and psychologist Corinna Nicole Press, live in Chicago and San Francisco respectively. Excerpt and photo gallery » |