PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. - Fran Malkin speaks about her harrowing survival experiences at a Holocaust remembrance event in Picatinny Arsenal's Lindner Conference Center on April 18 while volunteer moderator for the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest Holocaust Survivors Speakers program, Steve Moehlman, looks on.
Born in Sokal, near Lvov, Poland (present day Ukraine) in 1938, Malkin discussed how strangers occupied her family home and removed family property during the Russian Communists occupation in 1939. In the spring of 1941, when Germany invaded Poland and came into Sokal, they required all Jewish able-bodied men between the ages of 16-60 to report to the town square for labor. 400 Jewish men, including her father, were taken to a brick factory and shot.
In the fall of 1942, Malkin's family went into hiding. They were among 16 people who were hidden by Francisca Halamajowa, 13, for two years. Hiding places Malkin described included a hayloft over a pigsty in a barn and a hole under her kitchen that could hold three people. Fran’s uncle kept a diary of their experiences, which his sons later translated from the Yiddish into English.
As part of an effort to come to terms with her experiences as a Holocaust survivor, Malkin signed up for the Leave-a-Legacy Writing Program for Holocaust survivors at Drew University’s Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study to answer a yearning she could not articulate. Her memories were included in the 2005 book, “Moments in Time: A Collage of Holocaust Memories” published by the university.
Malkin currently serves as a survivor representative on the Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study Board of Associates.
The Holocaust event was hosted by the installation's Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division's (NSWC IHD) Picatinny Detachment.
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