SARASOTA – Her story is one of being in the right place at the right time, over and over again. She feels she escaped death countless times, just to be here to tell her story.
92-year-old Ginette Hersh was born in Paris, and she moved to Dijon, France, when she was young. She stayed there until she was 12, when the Germans entered Paris on June 10, 1940.
She and her family left Dijon that day and traveled all over southern France, hiding from and living in fear of the Nazis.
“No light, no using the bathroom, the house is supposed to be empty; you don’t open the shades,” Hersh said about hiding at a friends avoiding the Gestapo.
They traveled from Dijon, to Toulouse, to Villebon, France. Ginette’s parents rarely let her stay with them in whatever house they were hiding at the time. They didn’t want her to be there if the SS came. Ginette would hide at her boarding schools for the most part. When school was out, she would spend time learning how to type, becoming a dressmaker, anything to keep her out of the house.
It was close encounter after close encounter, but her family managed to stay together and stay alive. Now she speaks in schools whenever she’s asked, because she feels she’s alive today to tell this story to younger generations.
She fears what will happen if her memories die with her.
“I’m scared for my children and my grandchildren and great grandchildren,” Hersh said. “I’m scared because there is so much hatred in the world. That’s why I have to tell my story.”