Sarah Yarrin

Sarah Yarrin was born and raised in Tyler, TX, with her three sisters: Fanny, Marilyn and Ruthie. Sarah’s father came from Poland to Galveston without his parents, and her mother came to Tyler, Texas, at the age of 16. Sarah married Marvin Yarrin z”l and moved to Dallas, Texas, where they raised three daughters. She has passionately stated that one should look forward but never forget the past, which she demonstrates through her involvement and work with the Dallas Holocaust Museum and as a Life Member of the Dallas Jewish Historical Society Board of Directors. Additionally, as a very musical woman, Sarah has long been an active member of the Temple Emanu-El choir.

We have two interviews in our collection for Sarah.

Click here to watch the interview conducted by Karen Prager on February 4, 2001.

Click here to watch the interview conducted by Scott Farber on October 13, 2014.

Jack Bell

 

Jack BellThe son of two Holocaust survivors, Jack Bell was born in Poland in 1944 in a little town on the German Polish border. After the war, he and his family lived in a suburb of Munich, Germany, but in June of 1949, Jack’s family moved to Dallas and experienced a completely new lifestyle. After attending Hillcrest High School, Jack graduated from the University ofNorth Texas and married his wife, Louise, the following day at Temple Emanu-El. Jack has been a financial advisor and stock broker for over twenty two years. He has deep ties to his roots and his family’s past and has served as president at the Dallas Holocaust Center. There he feels he was able to merge the Holocaust Center with the second generation of Holocaust survivors. He has also served many other Jewish organizations in Dallas, including Jewish Family Service and its adoption committee.

Click on the image to watch the video, or click here.

Merle Hacker

Merle Hacker was born in 1935 in Jacksonville, Florida. She attended high school in Jacksonville and was the first one in her family to go to college. Merle went to the University of Florida for two years and then met her husband, Sonny, in 1952, while he was in the U.S. Navy stationed in Jacksonville. They married in 1954 and Merle began teaching kindergarten. She moved to Dallas with her husband and children in 1968, where she has been an involved member and supporter of the Jewish community. Merle has been a board member of Congregation Shearith Israel, working on its membership committee, was very active in the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, and also formed the first girls’ basketball league in the community.

To watch the video, or click here.

Boris Gremont

Boris Gremont was born in 1947 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and grew up in the country on a farm. It was there that he attended primary school. His mother and father, whose family was tragically lost in the Holocaust, were from Lithuania and met in South Africa. Boris was in the South African military for nine months in an engineering corps. He met his wife, Joan, in college in Johannesburg, and they married in 1971. Boris maintains a strong interest in engineering, however he has worked throughout his life as an accountant. He and his wife, Joan, eventually moved to Dallas with their family; they have two kids.

Click here to watch his video.

 

Eli Davidsohn

Eli Davidsohn, one of three children, was born in 1943 in La Paz, Bolivia, and was raised in Lima, Peru, where he lived until the age of eighteen. His parents ended up in Bolivia after having escaped Nazi Germany; his father became a mining engineer. Eli has played the accordion from the time he was a little boy, and has always loved leading services with his musical talents. Eli attended a Jewish day school in Bolivia, but shares that he experienced much anti-semitism in the country. He decided to move to America and ended up in Houston. Eli served in the U.S. Army, worked for General Dynamics in Fort Worth, and then married two months after the completion of his service. He is a proud father of four and grandfather of many, and continues to share his contagious energy and passion through his teaching and song-leading.

To watch the video, click here.