By Jiayi Zhu
Flipping through a binder, Ernie Kent smiles as she shows photos of her mother and younger self. They appear as long-lost reflections of Kent now, transformed through her journey decades later. Kent was born in 1929 in Vienna, Austria, the youngest child amongst her extended family. Her father worked in the button business and the family lived comfortably. After Hitler invaded Austria in 1938, though, public places became prohibited to Jews. At the time, Kent attended a Jewish, all-girls, Montessori school. Kent was in fourth grade during Kristallnacht in November 1938. That morning, nervous mothers took their daughters home early. At noon, Kent was picked up. She always walked home from school by herself. “I knew immediately something was wrong,” Kent said. During this time, Kent’s father escaped by hiding in an underground steam bath while a Gestapo came into the business and “told [Kent’s mother] to give the keys … and never come back.” 
In response, cash and jewelry were packed with newspaper and stowed away in a dowel suitcase. For the next 24 hours, they stayed in a friend’s bedroom. When they came back, Nazis had “looted every Jewish apartment along the way.” Their apartment was miraculously untouched and many of Kent’s relatives moved in consequentially. “At that point, everybody knew we needed to get out of here. But it was not easy,” Kent said. It was difficult to get a passport, and many countries had strict immigration quotas. Still, Kent’s parents never gave up. In exchange for all of her father’s assets, Kent and her family were able to go to Milan, Italy in September 1939. For the next three years, Kent and her parents shared one rented room. When Italy entered the war against France and Great Britain in 1940, Jewish refugees from Austria and Germany were at risk of deportation or internment. Yet again, the family was caught in a dangerous situation. “We didn’t know what was going to be next,” Kent said. Eventually, the family went to Lisbon, Portugal. Lisbon was swarming with refugees “and everybody was waiting, trying to get out.” After an unsuccessful visa attempt, they were referred to another sponsor and received American visas in June 1941. With more than 300 people crammed on an old ship that fit 100 at best, Kent and her family traveled 10 days from Lisbon to New York. “It was miserable. I can’t remember day by day, but all I remember is I didn’t like to go on a boat after that,” Kent jokes with a laugh. The foreign sound of the “Star-Spangled Banner” filled Kent’s ears as her family arrived in New York June 22, 1941. “I just remember my mother started crying and I don’t know whether it was fear or regret, or what,” Kent said. Kent and her family lived in the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society building for six weeks until her parents found jobs enabling them to rent an apartment. Kent’s family began to rebuild itself. “Well, it was a relief … I started living a normal life, more normal than before,” she said. The first five dollars Kent’s parents saved were used to buy “first papers.” Kent, who returned to school and learned English, remembers helping her father study for the citizenship exam. The family eventually became well-adjusted American citizens, but it wasn’t without tremendous grief for who and what they had lost. Italy, Spain, Portugal, The United States: each was a stepping stone in Kent’s journey to liberation. Kent’s testimony remains strong, and now, immortalized. “I can never forget it. It’s a part of me,” she said. “I want people to understand. We shouldn’t forget what happened.” For educational resources, lesson plans, and survivor stories, click here. To help support the Holocaust Education Initiative, click here.