In Victoria Van Orden Martinez’s new book, several 'Female STEM Pioneers' are described.

 

In Victoria Van Orden Martinez’s new book, several 'Female STEM Pioneers' are described.

In Victoria Van Orden Martinez’s new book, several 'Female STEM Pioneers' are described. I knew one of them personally: Professor Halina Neujahr, or grandmother 'New Year' as my children called her. Halina was one of the few survivors who knew everything about the Holocaust, not just her own personal experiences like most others. 

When looking through Halina's photo album, I found a page with two photographs from the Rosöga camp outside Strängnäs. Halina Neujahr, a Holocaust survivor, stayed at the camp from October 24, 1945, to June 26, 1946. Here are two winter pictures. Halina is on the far right. In the left image, Halina wrote: 'In the shadow of the chimney.' This was despite the fact that no real shadow was cast by it. What Halina meant was her true association with the chimneys of the crematoria in the death camps, including Majdanek, where her mother Gitla was murdered. Her comment on the picture to the right is also distinct. She notes that 'auntie' has arrived and that the chimney no longer frightens her. By 'auntie,' she meant that her menstruation had returned. Halina arrived in Sweden with UNRRA's White Boats.