Hear My Story: Henry Fenichel

The world knows the story of Anne Frank, the Jewish girl whose family was hidden from the Nazis in a secret annex in a home in the Netherlands. When her family was discovered, Anne was sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where she later died. In this episode of Hear My Story, you’ll meet Henry Fenichel, another Jewish child imprisoned by the Nazis in the same camp.

“Every day, she would take a little piece of bread, put it aside, so that we on Friday night, we will have a little extra bread and that was our observance of the Sabbath – having the challah symbolically.” — Dr. Henry Fenichel on his mother’s action to preserve their Jewish heritage even as they were prisoners in a concentration camp

In this conversation with Director of Collections and Exhibitions, Cori Silbernagel, Henry takes us back to his childhood in the Netherlands, sharing how his family’s lives were forever changed when the Nazis invaded. We learn that Henry’s father was deported and murdered in Auschwitz, while Henry and his mother went into hiding. They were eventually discovered, and sent to Westerbork, then on to Bergen-Belsen. A significant turning point came when Henry’s mother found a way to get them on a prisoner exchange list to be transferred to Palestine (now Israel). Henry’s resilience and determination shine through the many chapters of his story. He went on to have a successful career as a physics professor, but he never forgot the lessons of the Holocaust. Henry now dedicates his time to sharing his story, determined to bear witness and remind all of us of the need to be upstanders.

This episode is part of the Cynthia & Harold Guttman Family Center for Storytelling. Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode https://www.youtube.com/@holocaustandhumanity 

Our gratitude to Margaret & Michael Valentine for their ongoing support of this series. 

We want to hear from you! Email your thoughts to [email protected], or connect with us on social media. 

https://www.facebook.com/CincyHHC

https://www.instagram.com/holocaustandhumanity