Dee Simon
Dee Simon tells the story of her mother, Frieda Soury, who was born in 1929 in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic).
Frieda’s mother was brought up in an orphanage after her mother died. She left at 17 when she met and married Arthur Korngold. Frieda’s mother was not Jewish, but her father was. This changed Frieda’s treatment during the Holocaust. The Germans called this category of children mischlinge. Frieda grew up in Ostrava and attended public schools until 1939 when Nazis invaded the territories of Bohemia and Moravia where she lived.
After the occupation by Germany, Jewish children were no longer allowed to attend public schools. They had to wear yellow stars to identify themselves. When Frieda was 14, in 1943, she was taken to Terezin Concentration Camp near Prague. She was a prisoner at this camp for 2 years. Because Frieda was a mischling (half Jewish and half German), she was not deported to Auschwitz as were many Jews from this camp.
After the war, Frieda immigrated to Israel where she met and married her husband. In 1961, she and her family left Israel and made their home in the United States. Frieda presented her story all over the state of Washington with her daughter, Dee, who asked her questions.
Dee lives in Seattle. She was the Executive Director of the Holocaust Center for Humanity and is now retired. She is honoring her mother by telling her story.
