Finding Myself in the Holocaust, with Janet Singer Applefield

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Welcome to Let's Talk Legacy. My name is Gary

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Michels, the host. And we're just so excited to have Janet

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Singer Applefield on the show today. As a child survivor of

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the Holocaust and social worker, Janet Singer Applefield has

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spent over 40 years speaking with 1000s of students,

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educators, religious groups, government officials, and others

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to raise awareness and understanding of the dangers of

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prejudice and encouraging audiences to stand up any kind

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of discrimination and leave a legacy of acceptance and love.

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Love that part, or memoir Becoming Janet, Finding Myself

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in the Holocaust is available now. So Janet, let's dig right

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in. It's such an honor to have you here. The word Holocaust

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conjures up so many emotions for people, even now, almost 80

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years later, you have an incredibly unique vantage point

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as an actual survivor of that event. So tell us about your

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perspective and share your story of how old you were when when

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your home in Poland was invaded, or your small town was impacted

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what happened to your family and how this whole thing came about

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for you that you're still a survivor?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Well, I was born in Krakow, Poland, and

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I lived with my family in a little town, 50 miles south of

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the city of Krakow. And I had a wonderful idyllic childhood,

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first grandchild and the family I was loved. I was pampered

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September 1 1939. All this came to an abrupt end. At first, my

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family tried many, many attempts to escape, we first ran, ran

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away to Russia, then we returned. And after so many

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attempts to to escape, my parents ran out of options. And

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they made this amazing, most difficult decision of their

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lives. And that is to give me a way and score this several,

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several years. After that three and a half years to be exact. I

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was with different caregivers. I was away from my family, my

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identity was changed several times. And I ended up on the

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street that was abandoned. And that was picked up by a

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righteous Christian woman ended up on a farm where I spend most

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of the time with very kind people. I always knew I was

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Jewish, but I was able to keep an identified Jewish identity as

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secret. I was just seven years old when I was separated from my

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parents. But I was able to keep that a secret. And I ended up in

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an orphanage after the war. And miraculously my dad found me. No

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way. But he found me. And we eventually emigrated to the

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United States.

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So talk to me. So when you were seven years old,

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do you remember coming back from Russia and what it was like to

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be separated that actual day or was a kind of a big blur?

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Janet Singer Applefield: I remember only that I was, I was

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crying. My parents were crying. We were hugging. We were

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kissing. My parents said we will be reunited soon, I should be

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brave, and I should be good. And that's what I remember about

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that fateful day.

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And then that lady that became your friend and

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helped you did she become almost like a motherly figure, or was

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she more of a friend?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Well she was a very kind woman, and I

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wanted to call her mother and she said to me, you only have

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one mother called me. And so I called her aunt ganja. And when

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the war ended, my cousin's father, I was with my cousin who

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was very brutal to me. First, I was with a one person, one

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woman. And then my care was taken over by a cousin who was

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brutal and violent and abused me. The war ended her dad Sandy,

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but he turned me over to a refugee center in Krakow. And

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that's where I ended up. And from there, I went in an

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orphanage, and my father found me.

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So when you were reunited with your father, he

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had been in the slave labor camp. And when he found you, he

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insisted you give him all the details of the time you were

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separated so he can make sure it was documented. It was those

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handwritten pages rediscovered years later that started the new

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road of discovery for you. How was your father able to survive?

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What what happened to your mother and what was it like

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rediscovering the details of your escape as an adult? What

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was it like?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Well, it was very, very sad and very

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tragic, because the day that they gave me away, there was an

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order issued that all the people from that town and the

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surrounding towns had three days to report in an area outside of

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Krakow called via each guy. So they went there. Although

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independently because they decided to separate from each

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other, their thinking was that if they were separate, maybe one

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of them would survive. So when they arrived at that appointed

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place, there was a selection. And my father was one of 1000

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men, they were selected for slave labor, and other

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approximately 1000 old people and children were selected, and

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they were directly taken to the forest and shot. And the

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remaining people were putting onto boxcars, 53 boxcars, and my

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mother was a victim of that selection. And they were sent to

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Belle's that's a death camp. And so my mother and my grandmother,

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my many of my relatives were victims of that camp.

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How were you able to find all that stuff out?

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Janet Singer Applefield: So my story has evolved over time, I

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first thought that my mother was killed in Auschwitz. And then

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later on, I thought she was shot. But in 2012, I was

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contacted by a young Polish historian, she had lived in my

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town, and she always wondered what happened to the Jewish

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population of that town, and she found me on the internet. And

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after we were reunited, I learned that she was doing, she

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was writing a dissertation on the Holocaust. And she did a

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huge amount of research on my family. She was the one who

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found out exactly what happened to all my family members, not

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only my mom, but my grandparents and uncles and other family

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members.

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So you are actually able to reunite with

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some of the people who will help rescue you during that time,

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right?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Yes, I've been back to Poland four

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times. And each time that ship has been a little different. For

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me the first time, I was obviously very nervous, and I

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really didn't want to enjoy myself. And I didn't consider it

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a vacation. I knocked on the door of the family that saved me

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not knowing who I would find. And they were still there in the

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same apartment, and greeted me with open arms. Each time I had

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been in Poland, I've spoken in different places. And I'm I was

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reunited with a family that saved me. Wow. And it was very

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emotional. My family stayed downstairs and I climbed up

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three flights of steps, and I knocked on the door. And you

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know, they opened the door, and the parents were already

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deceased, but the children, the adult children are still there.

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And it was very emotional. Then my family came up, and then they

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pulled out photographs of me, which was amazing. You know, my

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family couldn't believe I was there, you know, seven years

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old.

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Wow, you say the experience changed both your

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sense of your gratitude, and also a sense of your own

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identity. And what identity really means. Can you explain

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about what identity means?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Well, for me, it was very confusing

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having to change my name several times, it was a loss, because I

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didn't understand what was happening here. And no one

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really explained what was going on I being so young, I didn't

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have the concept of of war, what it really meant. So it's been

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slightly hard for me to adjust to the different names and

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except those names, because when I came to this country, the

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first day of school, my uncle brought me to a school. And he

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said to me, what name do you want, you have to have an

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American name. So right on the spot, I had to choose a name

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again, right again. So I chose to name I said, Jeanette,

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because I had a we had a French cousin who lived in Paris. She

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used to visit us in the summertime and she was beautiful

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and glamorous. She had long red nails and her name was Jeanette.

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So I said Janet, and my uncle turned to the school secretary

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and said her name is Janet. Lee, I was Janet. So over time, you

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know, I thought about changing back my name by that I never

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did.

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What was your original name?

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Janet Singer Applefield: I was born Gustavo. And then my family

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company Gija, which means baby. Okay, but I was never Gustavo

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again.

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That still has a place in your heart.

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Janet Singer Applefield: It does.

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What was your last name?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Singer.

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So that's why you have the singer still in the

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middle, right?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Yes.

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So you later earned your Master of Social

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Work at Boston University and practice as a clinical social

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worker in the court system with perpetrators of the crimes in

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the Boston area for 30 years. How did your own personal

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experience impact your ability to be effective in that work and

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why was it such a passion and a mission for you?

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Janet Singer Applefield: I always try to understand human

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nature. I didn't understand what what made people, some people,

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evil and others good. And I chose a profession of social

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work because I thought I could do a little research and get a

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better understanding of people and human nature. Because so

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many survivors turn to the helping prevent professions.

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It's really interesting.

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Did you find as you are going through that work,

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a sense of forgiveness for the people that wronged your family?

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Or is there still a piece of your heart that has a hard time

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with that?

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Janet Singer Applefield: I am very fortunate, because my dad,

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who was my hero did not believe in general responsibility. The

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he felt that there were good Germans and bad Germans, good

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poles, bad poles. And because of that, I adopted the same

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philosophy. I judge people on the basis of their character and

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actions. I will never forget what happened. But I'm not

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hateful. And of course, I can't, I don't know who I can forgive.

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You know, for me, Forgiveness means that someone has to

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acknowledge what they did wrong, and then have some remorse. And

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then I could forgive. But there's no one yet I can

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forgive.

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I totally understand. You know, our show

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is called Let's Talk legacy. And legacy is such an important part

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for so many people. And I'm curious, what does legacy mean

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to you?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Well, Legacy means that what I leave

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behind has some meaning. I speak to 1000s of people a year that

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approximately 4000 Students must say, students, middle school and

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high school. And I feel that it's my responsibility to try to

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stop hate to impress, awareness and understanding of the history

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and inspire people to to be good people. Because you know, what's

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interesting about my memoir is that ordinary people did

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wonderful things and terrible things. And I think I want

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people to know that and understand that. Even the

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smallest acts of kindness have a ripple effect.

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Has there been, you know, from all of your

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speaking that you've done at the schools and to adults, is there

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a story that you can recall of someone that you did make an

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impact with that it changed their life, it changed their

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community? You heard the story later on how or what you had to

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say change the way they thought or did it reform anybody?

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Janet Singer Applefield: A student came up to me, Mary, she

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purposely in the sauna secretly, after I spoke to her an

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auditorium filled with 1100 students, this young man came

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up. And he asked, he said, How do I speak to my family who are

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racist? Because here in school, I'm learning about being a good

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person, and accepting people for who they are, and not be

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hateful. And then at home, I hear otherwise, how do I speak

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to them? To them? I was very touched that he trusted me. And

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he was able to ask that question. And I gave him few

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suggestions. And later on, he emailed me, and I was very

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fortunate and very happy that he was able to engage his family in

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a conversation that was ongoing. And I'm not sure if he

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completely changed their minds, but at least they were having a

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conversation.

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Wow, I get chills just hearing that. Because

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that's it's little small steps at a time, right.

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Janet Singer Applefield: And I've had so many students write

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to me 1000s of letters. One girl wrote, You are so brave, and

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you've helped me to be braver. You know, we all have stories,

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and we all deal with difficult circumstances in our lives. It's

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what you do with those experiences.

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Right? You say that retelling your story in the

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story of the Holocaust as a whole represents a connection

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between the past and the present, and that it's important

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for preserving the Jewish legacy and able to make sure people

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must never forget what happened. Talk to us about the connection

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between the past and the present.

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Janet Singer Applefield: Well, sadly the world today is very

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divided more so than ever in my lifetime. And I think hearing my

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experiences and hopefully learning some lessons from that.

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Hopefully it does help some people to change and to be

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proactive and stand up to injustice. And I think Today, we

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all need to be proactive and stand up to hatred.

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We do, we do. You know, you're just a child when

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you had to face score, I mean horror. How do parents and

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educators talk to children about difficult topics like hate

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speech and prejudice and other evils in the world? Because

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there's so many parents that listen to our show? And how do

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you have those conversations that are just really difficult

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ones to have?

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Janet Singer Applefield: I admit, they're very difficult.

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But I think it's important to speak with children. Because I

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remember, in my situation, my parents did not explain what was

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going on. I just knew something terrible and dangerous was

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happening, because they were crying, they were whispering,

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because they didn't want me to know what was happening. So I

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think it's important for children to be to have have some

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explanation of what's happening. And the conversation has to be

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geared to the appropriate age, you know, the language has to be

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correct, so that the children are not frightened, I think it

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has to be a conversation that ends with some hopefulness. And

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that is not very negative, even though events in our news is

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very negative, we still have to be careful how we speak to our

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children.

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Absolutely. So obviously, part of your legacy

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is tied to continuing to speak for the legacy of others, both

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other survivors as well as those who did not survive. What would

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you say is the other part of your legacy? What is an

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individual legacy that you'd like to leave behind?

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Janet Singer Applefield: Well, I'm very honored and proud,

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because I was invited to speak to the Massachusetts State

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Legislature in 2021. Right after that a law was passed genocide

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education mandate, to provide this education to all middle

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schools and high schools. So only 23 states in our country

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have passed such laws. So I'm very proud of that.

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Wow. And to think that they're states that don't

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want to teach it. It's it's....

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Janet Singer Applefield: There's states that have banned books

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that teach important subjects.

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Wow. Yeah. Well, that's a huge legacy.

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Janet Singer Applefield: I think it's important to be informed,

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to be proactive, to be kind, and do as much as one can to promote

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social justice.

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How can people reach you if they needed to get

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a hold of you, or wanted to ask you some questions or get a copy

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of your book. How would people get a hold of you?

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Janet Singer Applefield: I have a website, JanetApplefield.com.

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Then I'm on social media, Facebook, and Instagram. And

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that handle is at Janet Applefield. And through the

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website of the book is available on Amazon and on Barnes and

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Noble and all the other bookstores.

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Well I'm definitely ordering a copy of

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your book and can't wait to read it.

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Janet Singer Applefield: Oh thank you so much.

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Thank you so much for what you're doing for the

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people in our country and in our world for educating them on what

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happened and really looking at themselves to not be prejudiced

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and be the best you can be to accept everybody for who they

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are. So thank you so much.

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Janet Singer Applefield: Thank you so much for having me.