Speakers

Miriam Rosenbloom - Second Generation/Founder VTHM

Miriam is the youngest of three children, born to Holocaust survivors from Holland.  Her parents were so proud to raise their family in Canada following the war, and despite their unimaginable loss, were grateful for each and every day.  Miriam made it her mission to continue the legacy of her parent's resilience by becoming a docent at Holocaust Museum Houston when it opened in 1996.  In her professional career, Miriam was a teacher, financial planner, and Cultural Affairs Officer at the Consulate General of Israel in Houston.

She lives seasonally in Hyde Park, Vermont.  She's extremely proud of her three married children and seven grandchildren, scattered from Texas, to New York, to Israel. Today, it is important for her to tell the story of her parents survival and to teach others of the horrors of hatred, bigotry and intolerance. 

She's an avid vegetable gardener, and loves the beauty and tranquility of Vermont every single day!
Read more of Miriam's family story here...

Marcie Scudder - Second Generation/Founder VTHM

Child of a child survivor who made Vermont her home, Marcie is one of this Second Generation. 

By profession she's a trained Architect. For 25 years, she managed her own residential design practice in Boston, MA. When her mother passed away suddenly in 2014 - she returned to the house and home she designed for her parents. Currently - as a certified yoga teacher and working artist – she yokes together the ancient teachings with the discipline of creative practice both in her art and daily life. 

It wasn’t until well into well into her adult years, that Marcie learned of her mother’s history and connection to the Holocaust. She is now carrying on the legacy, making it her mission to share those stories of survival. Within them there are lessons to be learned. It must never happen again.

Marcie has three grown children, and one  grandchild. She is a daughter, mother, grandmother, sister and friend. She begins each day with a beginner’s mind and the set intention to practice gratitude. It was due to the kindness of strangers and some great miracle that she and her family are here today.
Read more of Marcie's family story here....

Debora Steinerman - Second Generation/Founder VTHM

Debbie is originally a “flat-lander”: born, raised, and married with children on Long Island, New York. She made her move up to the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont in 2013 with her husband Peter after their two children moved to the mid-west. Debbie is a first generation American, and second generation Holocaust survivor, who grew up with her mother’s brave real-life adventures as her bedtime stories and family get-togethers which included lots of typical eastern European Jewish food, arguments and much love. Debbie is a graduate of Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law. When not busy kayaking, walking their dog Jet along the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, or in the snowy woods around their house, Peter and Debbie run a health care consultancy. 

Debbie is grateful for the opportunity to continue sharing the legacy of her Jewish heritage. She wants to be sure that the struggles and horrible fate endured by many in her family -- and millions of others -- will never be forgotten …and will be an important lesson for future generations of all faiths and backgrounds worldwide.
Read more of Debora's family story here...

Heidi Fishman - Second Generation/VTHM board member

Heidi grew up in Connecticut, but might as well have maple syrup running through her veins. Her father proposed to her mother on a beautiful fall day atop Smuggler's Notch and her winter weekends and vacations were frequently spent skiing in Stowe. Heidi moved to the Upper Valley in 1992 and then to Norwich in 2005.

Heidi always knew her mother was a Holocaust survivor, but she didn’t dig into the story until she was inspired by the way her daughter’s seventh grade class listened intently while her mother told them about her memories. That class visit led to the writing of Tutti’s Promise , her debut novel that tells her mother's Holocaust story.

A retired psychologist who worked at Dartmouth College and in private practice in Lebanon, NH for over 25 years, when Heidi isn’t typing on her keyboard, you can find her walking along Norwich’s back roads, hiking with her husband, or visiting with family.

Dr. Jack Mayer - MD, MPH -  Second Generation

Dr. Jack Mayer is a Vermont writer and pediatrician.  His was the first pediatric practice in Eastern Franklin County, on the Canadian border, where he began writing essays, poems and short stories about his practice and hiking Vermont’s Long Trail.  He was a country doctor for ten years, often bartering medical care for eggs, firewood, and knitted afghans.

From 1987 – 1991 Dr. Mayer was a National Cancer Institute Fellow at Columbia University researching the molecular biology of pediatric cancers.  Dr. Mayer established Rainbow Pediatrics in Middlebury, Vermont in 1991 where he continues to practice primary care pediatrics.  He is an Instructor in Pediatrics at the University of Vermont School of Medicine and an adjunct faculty for pre-medical students at Middlebury College. 

He was a participant at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in 2003 and 2005 (fiction) and 2008 (poetry).  His first non-fiction book is Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project.   His new book, Before the Court of Heaven, is historical fiction and has received 14 book awards. 

Hear more about Jack, his research, and Before the Court of Heaven in his Vermont Conversation interview here.

Martha L. Molnar - Second Generation

A full-time resident of Vermont since 2008, Martha Molnar is an author, commentator and community organizer. She has launched several organizations and popular programs such as the annual Science Pub, now in its tenth year. She is publishing her second book, in addition to a book about her family that she self published.       

Martha and her husband Ted were born in Eastern Europe to survivors. Both mothers had spent nearly a year in Auschwitz, while their fathers had spent years in forced labor camps, losing wives and children. Martha’s earliest memories are of the remnants of her family, who would get together on holidays, and spend many hours recounting the horrors they had lived through. 

A naturalized U.S. citizen since 1968, Martha has lived and worked most of her life in New York City. She has enjoyed and learned from several careers, including English teacher in middle school; English instructor at several colleges; freelance journalist who wrote regularly for The New York Times; and a public relations/advertising professional. 

When not writing or involved in the community, Martha is an avid gardener who grows much of their own food, and an outdoor enthusiast who skis, bikes, hikes and swims.  

For many years, she read everything she could find on the Holocaust; for many years after that, in an effort to lead a normal life, she stopped reading or watching movies on the subject. Now she is ready to once again confront the history that has defined hers and even her children’s lives. She is especially anxious, given the hatred toward many minorities that has been unleashed in recent years, to share the history with others as an object lesson. 

Tom Glaser - Second Generation

Tom is the first Glaser to be born in the USA. He grew up on Long Island, NY but was a downhill ski racer who spent every winter vacation and weekend skiing and racing in the Catskills, Adirondacks, and Green Mountains of Vermont. Tom attended UVM and married his best friend since 7th grade, Jill. After graduation, they settled in Vermont and have lived on beautiful Lake Champlain in Shelburne for 50 years. Their greatest joy is their family of 3 sons and 3 grandchildren.  

Tom’s parents survived Nazi ghettos and multiple concentration camps. Most of his other relatives did not survive. His family lost everything twice. Once when the Nazis took over Czechoslovakia, and then again when they decided to escape as the Czech Communist Party came into power in 1948. Their story of survival is truly amazing, and must be told, so it never happens again. 

In 2019, after 46 years of owning and running their auto parts stores, Burlington Foreign Car Parts, Tom and Jill sold the business. Having had time to do research, Tom now shares his family's story: before, during and after the Holocaust, and, how growing up with the Holocaust always in the background affected his life.  

Read more of Tom’s family story here.