What were the odds?

The people behind the question

My four grandparents

Aryeh and Masha survived in Lithuania. Eva and Emil survived imprisonment and separation before finding each other again. Their lives brought together two families—and made mine possible.

Following the family

Aryeh and Masha are my maternal grandparents; Emil and Eva are my paternal grandparents.

Each story follows a person through life before the war, persecution and survival, and rebuilding afterward. Family testimony sits alongside archival records, with sources linked throughout.

How these stories were researched →