Survivor Testimonies: Bill Orlin

Between 1939 and 1945, Bill Orlin and his family lived on the run. Bill, the eldest son of Sender and Sonia Orlinski, was seven years old when German troops invaded Poland and occupied his hometown of Brok. The Jewish residents were forcibly marched to Ostrow Mazowiecki, about 50 miles northwest of Warsaw.

The forced march, although terrifying at the time, may have saved the family’s lives. Once Bill and his family were in Soviet-controlled Poland, they continued their eastward journey into the Soviet interior, where they remained in relative safety for the rest of WWII. When Germany invaded the USSR in June 1941 the family “ran,” recalls Bill. Although the family was together, life was tremendously difficult, suffering from hunger and malnutrition for the next several years.

This event is free with Museum admission.

Read more about Bill's story, in addition to other local Holocaust survivors' stories, here.