Selma Schwarzwald

Selma was born into a Jewish family in the multiethnic and multireligious city of Lwów. Selma's father, Daniel Schwarzwald, and mother, Laura (née Litwak), were well-educated and could speak several languages, including Polish, German, and Yiddish. 

1933-39: Selma’s parents married in 1935. Before World War II, her father ran a successful lumber business. In September 1939, when Selma was two years old, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland and divided the country between them. Lwów was located in Soviet-occupied eastern Poland. Soviet authorities took over Daniel’s lumber business.

1940-44: In June 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union and occupied Lwów. The Germans imposed numerous antisemitic restrictions. Her father found a position working for the German administration. Because of this, he received a work permit that he hoped would protect his family. Beginning in fall 1941, Jews in Lwów were forced to move into a ghetto. In spring 1942, the German authorities began deporting Jews from Lwów to the Belzec killing center. Among them were Selma’s maternal grandparents, Josef and Mina Litwak. On September 1, 1942, the day before Selma's fifth birthday, her father was killed. 

Prior to his death, Daniel had arranged for false identity papers for the family. Selma’s false name was Zofia Tymejko. Her mother went by Bronisława Tymejko. A Polish friend in Lwów taught them Catholic prayers and rituals. Using the false papers, Selma and her mother fled Lwów. They eventually moved to a small town called Busko-Zdrój. Laura spoke fluent German and worked as an interpreter. She taught Selma not to use Yiddish words and never to speak about their life in Lwów. 

They blended into Polish society because Laura and Selma spoke Polish without an accent. Selma attended school and a Catholic church, where she was exposed to antisemitic jokes and conspiracy theories. By this time, Selma had blocked out her past and did not realize she was Jewish. 

After the war ended, Selma and her mother immigrated to England. There, Selma relearned that she was Jewish, which was difficult for her to process. Laura and Selma changed their last name from Schwarzwald to Turner. Selma officially changed her name to Sophie (the English version of Zofia, her name while in hiding). She attended medical school and became a physician. In 1963, she immigrated to the United States, where she trained as a radiation oncologist. She married David Zaretsky, and they had two sons. Eventually, she began to remember more of her past. Sophie Turner-Zaretsky would go on to speak about her experiences during the Holocaust and donate her papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.