Clara Stein was born in 1939 in Chernivtsi then belonging to Romania. Her parents Josef and Elina adored her. They must have believed they would be able to raise her in peace but the world had other plans.

When she was two the city had been engulfed by war. It was occupied by Romanian and German troops and the Jewish community was herded into a ghetto. It was squalid dirty and infested with disease. There was little food. Security was lost. Each day was a toss-up between hunger sickness or brutality.

In 1942 the term was uttered. Deportation. No escape. The family was taken on a death march to Transnistria. Individuals dropped along the way and no one would stop to assist them. To halt meant also to perish. Clara was three years of age. Ill and weak from sickness and starvation she could not continue walking in the cold. She couldn't.

She passed away during the trip. She never felt secure afterward. The harsh reality is that most of them didn't either. This is not just history. It is a lesson on how fast the world can turn against you.

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