During the German occupation of Poland, Tamar Dror, born Marusa Cygler, lived in the Bedzin ghetto with her family. During this time, an attempt to deport Dror and her family was made, however they managed to successfully jump from the train and returned to live in the ghetto. In August 1943, at the age of 8, Dror was pulled from the ghetto by Genia Pajak, a Polish woman of Christian faith. Under the pseudonym of Boguslawa, she spent a year living as Pajak’s illegitimate daughter, caring for cattle in a village near Czestochowa. Dror was moved around consistently during the war and lived with other families until the liberation of Poland in early 1945. Dror became inspired to write about her experiences in 1999, after seeing an art exhibition featuring her father’s work in the Muzeum Zablebia, Luzhin.

Kitia Altman grew up in Bedzin, Poland, surrounded by her extended family whom she observed with the rapier keen eyes of a child. Happy years followed at a fine school, but by the time she was ready to take on the world, war broke out. Until 1944 she worked in a ‘shop’ manufacturing uniforms for the Vehrmacht. It was managed by Alfred Rossner, a German, for whom she later provided testimony recognising him as Righteous Amongst the Nations. Kitia survived the Holocaust sustained by memories of her childhood and, in her later years, devoted herself to working as a volunteer for the Melbourne Holocaust Museum.