About Betty
Betty Grebenschikoff (née Ilse Kohn) is an author, public speaker and Holocaust survivor. When her peaceful childhood in Berlin, Germany, was shattered by Nazi violence against Jews, the family was forced to flee to China in 1939. They were just one step ahead of the Gestapo. Shanghai was the only open port at that time that admitted European Jews without visas or passports. It became a place of refuge for about 20,000 refugees.
Betty Grebenschikoff lectures extensively to museums, organizations, schools and colleges and published a memoir titled Once My Name Was Sara. Her story is featured in two documentary films: Shanghai Ghetto, which premiered in 2002, and the more recently released Survival in Shanghai. In 2020, she was reunited with her childhood best friend from Germany after 82 years of not knowing if the other survived. The story was featured worldwide and has had a profound impact on Betty’s understanding of her own war story.
Betty & Rachael recorded this conversation for The Memory Generation on April 7, 2022 at Betty’s home in St. Petersburg, Florida.
In The News
The Washington Post (2021): At age 9, best friends separated fleeing the Nazis. Now, 82 years later, they finally hugged again.
The Times (2021): Jewish friends Betty Grebenschikoff and Ana María Wahrenberg who were torn apart by Kristallnacht are reunited.
ABC Action News, WFTS Tampa Bay (2021): Two best friends who fled Nazi Germany reunited after 82 years
Article on Tampa Bay Times (2021): St. Petersburg woman thought best friend was lost in Holocaust. Now, they Zoom.
The Times of Israel (2021): Amazing detective work’ reunites best friends thought murdered in the Holocaust
People (2021): Best Friends Reunite 82 Years After They Were Separated by the Holocaust: ‘Such a Miracle’
Cóndor (2021): Ein Wiedersehen zwei jüdischer Freundinnen aus Berlin nach 82 Jahren (GERMAN)
USC Shoah Foundation: 2020 Storytelling Wrap Up
“I could never find her. I looked for her at the Holocaust Museum in Washington and in the database I looked for her. And I mention her name every time I give a talk because I talk about the Holocaust and just nothing ever happened, you know? And I just can’t believe that she’s there. It’s so exciting.” - Betty Grebenschikoff (2020)