Lvov, Poland

Sieradz, Poland

Mela (Mirele) Groch

Mela (Mirele) Groch was born in Seradz, Poland in 1919, the youngest of seven siblings. Her father Leib died of cancer in 1940 and her mother, Sarah Rivka, her three sisters and the rest of the family all "went to the ovens". Mela was sent to slave labour in the Lodz Ghetto with two of her remaining brothers. She met her husband Lolek while working on the Bahnhof Radogast Railway Station. Together, they were among last 850 survivors of the Lodz Ghetto. They were liberated January 1945 by the Soviet Army. She and Lolek married in March 1945 and had a daughter Marysia. Mela has two grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Her wish is for her descendents is to remember her as a beautiful woman and to remember her life story as one of courage and determination.