Program Description
Event Details
Join us for an evening of remembrance and local history as Sammy Borenstein, a second-generation Holocaust survivor, shares his parents’ story and their life in New Orleans.
Isak and Pola Borenstein arrived in New Orleans in 1951, traveling by train from Baltimore after securing sponsors who guaranteed their employment, an essential requirement for survivors seeking entry into the United States.
In New Orleans, Isak and Pola established a small corner grocery store that became a neighborhood institution. Later, drawing on Isak’s skill as a master woodworker, he began a business doing home remodeling. Isak used his skills to buy, renovate, and rent out old buildings with apartments. Their story reflects the hard work, adaptability, and determination that defined many survivor families.
At that time, a number of Holocaust survivor families in New Orleans who were bonded by shared experiences of trauma, loss, and displacement formed what became known as the New American Social Club. Within this circle, survivors supported one another and began holding Holocaust commemorations.
Through his testimony, Sammy Borenstein offers an account of survival, resettlement, and integration into New Orleans life, as well as the lasting impact of being raised by parents who carried the weight of unimaginable history.