Irene Miller
Irene Miller was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1932. When Germany invaded Poland, Irene’s family tried to flee to the Soviet Union and was stranded for several weeks in “no man’s land.” They made it across the Russian border and were later deported to Siberian labor camps, where they suffered from hunger and exposure. In 1942, they were set free and went to Uzbekistan, where they continued to struggle to survive and where her father died in an epidemic. Irene and her sister were sent to an orphanage to avoid starvation. After the war, Irene returned to Poland and lived in a Polish orphanage for 4 years before immigrating to Israel. In Israel, at the age of 18, she married a man from Detroit and a few years later immigrated to the U.S.
“Only in a country where all minorities have full rights and freedom can Jews as one of the minorities have all of their rights safeguarded. Become active towards this objective, don’t just be a bystander with good intentions; promote justice, tolerance, and diversity.”
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Survivor Talk Sundays
Join us on Sundays at 12pm to hear first-hand accounts from Holocaust survivors that now live in Michigan.
Sabotage: Virtual Film Talkback with Noa Aharoni
In January 1945—just two weeks before the evacuation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—four courageous women, Estusia Wajcblum, Rosa Robota, Alla Gartner, and Regina Safirstein, were publicly executed for their role in a secret…
RISE: The Rock Musical
RISE is a new rock musical about a group of Jewish women resistance fighters during the Holocaust who wage an uprising against the Nazi regime. The show is based on the…
The Ice Cream Man: Film Screening and Talkback
The short film The Ice Cream Man tells the true story of Ernst Cahn, a popular Jewish ice cream parlor owner, who, shortly after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands,…
Special Sunday Talk: Gloria Ruskin, Daughter of a Survivor
The HC proudly hosts a Next Generation Speaker program, inviting descendants of Holocaust survivors to tell the personal stories of their families during the Holocaust. This speaker program also shines…
Survivor Talk Sundays: Henry Wormser
Every survivor’s story is unique and provides a special, first-hand account of life before, during, and after the Holocaust. Hearing from local Michigan survivors helps us see all the victims…
Survivor Talk Sundays: Barbara Cohen
Every survivor’s story is unique and provides a special, first-hand account of life before, during, and after the Holocaust. Hearing from local Michigan survivors helps us see all the victims…
Special Exhibit Opening Event: Boris Lurie Nothing To Do But To Try
Nothing To Do But To Try is a first-of-its-kind exhibition on the 20th-century artist and Holocaust survivor Boris Lurie. Explore some of Lurie’s earliest work in this dynamic representation of…
Closed for New Year
The Zekelman Holocaust Center will close early on Wednesday, December 31, and Thursday, January 1, for the New Year holiday. Regular operating hours will resume on Friday, January 2, at…