Erika Schwartz is one of the youngest Holocaust Survivors in the US. She was born in Nyíregyháza, Hungary in April 1944, just a month after the German invasion. Believing that Hungary was not going to be safe for Jews under the new regime, Erika’s father went to the authorities and begged them to allow his wife and daughter to move to Budapest. To keep them safe in Budapest, false Christian identity papers were obtained that allowed the pair to live undetected. When the war ended in 1945, Erika’s mother, Jolan Hornstein, discovered that they were the only two survivors from their entire family. 

As the child of a survivor, she felt her  life revolved around trying to be the caregiver to a mother who had been totally destroyed by the war. It wasn't until Erika was in her forties that she had a shift in thinking away from all that she had lost in life to all that she could be grateful for.

Erika's story is one of overcoming tremendous adversity and finding peace, gratitude and healing on the other side of her journey.