Shelley Greenspan, Speaker Memory Keepers Cocktail Hour

Shelley is the only child of two Holocaust survivors who came from Northern Transylvania, in present-day Romania. The region was taken over by Hungary in 1940, when harsh anti-Jewish laws were imposed.  But the Jewish community there survived until March of 1944, when the Germans occupied Hungary.  On the eve of the Allied victory, the Jews of Northern Transylvania were concentrated into ghettos and, within several weeks' time, were transported to Auschwitz, where the majority of them were gassed upon arrival. Shelley tells the story of her mother, Lilly, who survived two concentration camps thanks to the love and support of her older sister, Sarah, who was with her throughout the war. Shelly’s oldest daughter, Emily, also tells Lilly’s story through her presentations with 3GNY, an educational organization founded by the grandchildren of survivors to preserve the legacies and lessons of the Holocaust. Shelley and Emily had the opportunity to visit Romania in May 2019 through Tarbut Foundation Sighet to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the deportation of Jews from Transylvania. While there, they traveled to the village of Borșa to see Lilly’s childhood home, which is now a post office. Shelley's younger daughter, Naomi, is the image of her grandmother Lilly.

Shelley was born and raised in the Bronx and lived in New Jersey and Israel. She spent her professional life in international banking and is looking forward to her upcoming retirement.  In retirement she plans to work on her father’s story, learn Yiddish, keep physically active through hiking, and eventually travel to Eastern Europe to learn more about her parents' pasts.  She currently resides in Irvington with her husband David.

Shelley is a member of Generations Forward , a group of second and third generation individuals sponsored by the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center of White Plains, New York.