About Us Workshops & Groups Publications Donate Volunteer Employment Supporters Contact Us	Helen Breger "My family, consisting of parents Baruch and Esther Hammerman and four daughters, lived in Vienna, Austria at the time of the Anschluss (the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany). My parents jointly ran a substantial business. Within days of the takeover, my father and numerous other Jewish businessmen were arrested and taken to an unknown destination. The business was confiscated and entry was forbidden to my family. "We managed to emigrate to different destinations: half the family to Trinidad, then a British colony, and the rest to Paris. Paris was soon occupied by Germany, and the urgent need to emigrate recurred. My oldest sister, who already had a ten-year old boy, fled to Chile. My next older sister, who had been a resident of Paris, managed to get an entry visa to the U.S. I spent the war years in Trinidad. I met my future husband there and eventually emigrated with my parents to the US, settling at first in New York City. "I made my living as an artist and art teacher, and am still actively pursuing my art career, painting and exhibiting widely. I am blessed with good health and fitness and am able to be very active. Traveling and going to the theater and music performances keep me busy and stimulated. I have two married daughters and three grandchildren." Sketch by Helen Breger of Ruth Michaels, fellow East Bay survivor.