Aileen Frydrych was born in the early 1930s to a Jewish family living in what was then known as Poland. Aileen who was originally named Hiya lived in Eastern Poland which is now part of Belarus. Aileen remembers the days when she first started school around 1939 when her town as occupied by Russia. Two years later Aileen’s small town was taken over by Germany. This drastically changed Aileen’s life. Being Jewish she was not allowed to attend school and when she wanted to go anywhere she would have to wear a yellow star. This showed other people that she was Jewish. Aileen went through many other hardships during the time of the Holocaust. This is her story and what she went through during these times.  

We met Aileen at Baycrest’s Cafe Europa in January 2018, when she was interviewed by a group of CHC2D students.