Elyse Wolff
Elyse Wolff is the granddaughter of two Holocaust survivors, Yolan Moldovan Lichtman and Joseph Lichtman. Knowing that she is a descendant of survivors has greatly impacted Elyse’s life. Since 2017, Elyse has served as an appointed Commissioner to the New Jersey State Commission on Holocaust Education, and she is a co-founder of 3GNJ. Elyse has been married to Keith Wolff since 2007, and together they have two daughters, Dara and Hailey, 4Gs who Elyse hopes will carry on the family legacy.
Since little is known about Elyse’s grandfather’s experience during the Holocaust, Elyse’s presentation focuses on her grandmother’s amazing story of survival, including her time in the Satu Mare ghetto and escaping death more than once at Auschwitz. More than half of her grandmother’s family was killed during the Holocaust, but Elyse’s grandmother and one of her grandmother’s sister’s managed to stay together while at Auschwitz and later during a death march as the Allied Forces were closing in on the Nazis. Elyse has presented to dozens of audiences, and it is her mission and honor to continue sharing her grandmother’s story.
Aimee Lam
Aimee Lam is the granddaughter of two Holocaust survivors, Esther (Przepiorka) and Hans Pfeffer. Both were teenagers when they escaped Nazi Germany alone. They met in Bydown, England at a refugee camp where they fell in love. They married and when the war ended, immigrated to the United States with Aimee’s mom. They soon learned that Hans’s entire family perished in concentration camps, as did Esther’s father and one sister. They spoke little of this time.
Decades later details emerged. One day when Aimee was in her late thirties, she heard Esther’s story for the first-time. It was a regular afternoon visit when out of the blue, Esther told of the “knock on the door.” Esther was transported back to her youth in Germany and the arrival of the Nazi’s to her childhood home. Several years later, Aimee’s son chose his great-grandma Esther as the subject of a fourth-grade immigration project. He interviewed family members and wrote a picture book called My Oma’s Luck. This was just the start. Soon after, Aimee’s mom embarked on a journey to research and document her parents’ lives, their legacy, and the indelible impact of the Holocaust. Salt of the Earth, by Janet Pfeffer Vignola with Margaret Pfeffer Pfaff, tells their story of resilience and hope.
Aimee and her husband have lived in Bridgewater, NJ since 1997 where they raised two children. She is grateful and proud to share her grandparents’ story.