Betty Gold: the Last Holocaust Survivor of Trochenbrod, Poland
Betty Gold, 81, is believed to be the last survivor from her village, which was destroyed by the Nazis during the Holocaust. There were only 33 survivors of the 5,000 villagers of the idyllic town of Trochenbrod, Poland after the Nazi massacres. Betty, who was 11 when the Nazis stormed her village, survived by hiding in the forests and swamps for nearly 3 years with almost no contact with the outside world. Because of her tiny size, and because Jewish boys, if caught, could be identified by the Nazis because they were circumcised, Betty risked her life to provide food to the 16 people who hid with her by scavenging for food every few nights, often during cold winters and pitch black conditions. She describes another Holocaust since the tragic death of her sons Michael and Alan. Alan took his life, despite Betty’s many attempts to get help for him. She has a hard time making sense of it, and says her life experiences have given her two personas: an outside happy, social appearance, and a sad, lonely, grief-filled life.
