This note appeared in the Carroll County Mirror-Democrat on August 10, 2016. You may access the original post here.

Roberta Dietzen is bringing the story of her mother, Rezsi Lehrer, a Holocaust survivor, to the Savanna Museum and Cultural Center.

The program is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21.

Rezsi lived on Gypsy Music Street in a remote area of the Carpathian mountains. At the age of 24, she traveled alone to the United States seeking a better life.

As war broke out and borders were sealed, Rezsi’s family was trapped in Czechoslovakia and packages she sent to them were returned unopened.

Sadly, Rezsi discovered the heartbreaking news that her family perished in the Holocaust.

In later years, as Rezsi shared her past with her daughter, Roberta was driven to make the journey to the places where her mother and family lived.

Dietzen will share the moving and memorable journey of her extraordinary trip to Budapest, Ukraine and Israel, tracing her mother’s footsteps. It is a family history of love, loss and ramifications of the Holocaust.

She describes the journey as the highlight of her life.

Dietzen is retired from many years of teaching English as a Second Language to adults. She has three grown children and lives with her husband in Highland Park.

The Aug. 21 program is funded, in part, by the Illinois Humanities Council Road Scholars program.

Suggested donation is $8 and funds are used to continue programming and events at the Savanna Museum and Cultural Center.