2022 First Person with Holocaust Survivor Louise Lawrence-Israëls

Watch to learn why Louise Lawrence-Israëls was afraid to go outside. She had been hiding in an attic for two and a half years, since she was six months old, with her parents, brother, and a family friend. Though her family tried to have a normal life, Louise never went out, never knew sunshine or fresh air. “They never talked about the outside world,” she said. When Canadian forces liberated Amsterdam in May 1945, Louise overcame her fear and emerged into a world she didn’t know.

Hear Holocaust survivor Louise Lawrence-Israëls’s experiences in her own words recorded on June 22, 2022. First Person is a monthly hour-long discussion featuring a live interview between journalist Bill Benson and a survivor and including questions from the audience, available on the Museum’s YouTube channel.

Read about the Netherlands during the Holocaust:
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/conten...

Learn about Amsterdam during the Holocaust:
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/conten...

Watch Defying Nazi Persecution, a discussion about Dutch resistance:
   • Pride Month: Defying Nazi Persecution  

Watch Louise explain what her father’s hobby of collection means to her:
   • Next Chapter: At the Heart of Antiquing  

Learn more about the Allied invasion on D-Day:
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/conten...

Discover more about Louise’s wicker chair:
   • Holocaust Artifacts Unpacked: The Wic...