Edith Girard, now 80, was born in Romania. She was an active girl: skiing, ice-skating—and, by 16, a champion swimmer. Already fluent in Hungarian, German, French and Latin, it didn’t take long for her to learn English after she moved to the United States. She had prepared herself by reading English-speaking newspapers.

Romania, like the rest of Europe, went from a beautiful ski and summer destination before WWII to a Nazi-occupied prison of sorts. Edith’s father was Jewish, so she spent all of WWII hiding that fact. The end of the war was a short-lived victory for the inhabitants of that part of the world because in 1949 the Communists moved in and took over. Once again Edith’s family had to hide the fact that they were Jewish. On December 6, 1949 Edith’s father was told he had 24 hours to surrender his factory and family home. After that they were forced to live in tenement buildings.  Edith, her husband, and two children, lived in a two-room apartment.

During that period, Edith worked two or three jobs six days a week in order to make enough money to survive. Her day off was spent standing in line for nine hours to get the allotted four pounds of meat. If she wanted bread, that was another line.

Between the Nazi occupation and the Communist takeover, Edith and her family lived under these conditions for approximately 30 years. The educational and occupational opportunities were appalling and as her eldest child, a daughter, neared secondary school age it became apparent to Edith and her husband that their children would have no advantages. They made a very difficult decision to split up the family. Her husband took their daughter and escaped to Italy where he’d wait for his brother, a doctor in the United States, to secure them visas. When the time was right Edith and their son would join them stateside. It took her over three years to get the necessary visas.

Moving to the United States was a bittersweet experience; her degree in Statistical Economics was null and void. Her years of experience working in accounting were wiped clean. She had to learn English and start at the bottom rung of her profession, then work her way back up. The long years of stress from the separation and loss of her professional standing finally took their toll. Within a year of reaching the United States, she lost one of her lungs to surgery.

After working in the accounting department of Bostitch Staple for 20 years, Edith was able to retire and enjoy traveling throughout Europe, Canada, and the Western United States: Texas, Yellowstone, Seattle, Salt Lake City.

Over the years Edith has suffered from lower back pain resulting in two back surgeries earlier this year. She has started a daily regimen on the treadmill. She also does some light gardening. “Slowly” she says, “I now do everything in slow motion.”