On Sunday, August 21, 2016, at 2:00 p.m., guest speaker Roberta Dietzen, at left, will bring the story of her mother, Rezsi Lehrer, a Holocaust survivor, to the Savanna Museum and Cultural Center, 406 Main Street, Savanna, IL.
Lehrer lived on Gypsy Music Street in a remote area of the Carpathian mountains. At the age of 24, she traveled alone to the United States seeking a better life. As World War II broke out and borders were sealed, her family was trapped in Czechoslovakia. Packages she sent to them were returned unopened. Sadly, Rezsi discovered the heartbreaking news that her family perished in the Holocaust.
In later years, as Lehrer shared her past with her daughter, Roberta, the latter was driven to make the journey to the places where her mother and family had lived. Roberta shares the moving and memorable journey of her extraordinary trip to Budapest, Ukraine, and Israel tracing her mother’s footsteps. It is a family history of love, loss, and ramifications of the Holocaust.
She describes the journey as the “highlight” of her life.
Roberta Dietzen retired after many years of teaching English as a Second Language to adults. She has three grown children and lives with her husband in Highland Park, IL.
The program is funded, in part, by the Illinois Humanities Council Road Scholars program.
Suggested donation is $8. Funds are used to continue programming and events at the Savanna Museum and Cultural Center.
