In 1939, Eva was a happy six-year-old living with her parents in Lodz, Poland. She was looking forward to starting first grade. However, instead of starting school, Eva, along with her family, was forced into the Lodz Ghetto, in accordance with the occupying Nazis’ policy against Jews. After four years in the ghetto, the family was deported to Auschwitz, Stutthof and a labour camp in Dresden, and then marched to Theresienstadt. There, in May 1945, Eva and her parents were liberated. By the age of twelve, she had endured over five years of imprisonment, hunger, disease and forced labour.
Eva is an educator, an activist educator and participant in her community in Tulsa, Oklahoma - passionate about the improvement of the human condition and children’s rights. Eva shares her insights and thoughts, informed by her experiences as a child, and her determination and commitment to tell her story and prevent further suffering and abuses of children and all people. A Guiding Grandmother to be sure!
The Jewish Federation of Tulsa says of Eva: “In 1978, Eva stood in a Tulsa classroom and for the first time shared the story of her Holocaust experiences. Since then, she has told her story over and over to thousands of students. Her commitment to Holocaust education continued to deepen and evolve with the formation of the “Holocaust Educators Group,” the direction of Tulsa’s annual Interfaith Holocaust Commemoration, and the establishment of Tulsa’s Council for Holocaust Education. Eva Unterman has truly shaped the way our community understands, learns and commemorates the Holocaust”