Letter from Boston Barbara Bandler Steinmetz While Barbara and her sister study at the convent school, their parents remain busy. Margit is developing plans for a small business. During her medical studies in Hungary, she had researched casein, a type of protein found...
A Catholic education Barbara Bandler Steinmetz Other than the Bandlers, the only European living in the vicinity of Jarabacoa is a Catholic priest they only refer to as “Padre.” The Bandlers establish a friendly relationship with him, and he soon introduces them to a...
Jarabacoa: Mountain refuge Barbara Bandler Steinmetz Transcript Barbara: They [the settlers] had dysentery, and they had terrible bad bite-- bites from the-- from the animals, from the-- from the mosquitoes and the flying critters. And-- and they-- and they got...
Life in Sosúa Barbara Bandler Steinmetz When they arrive in the Dominican Republic in 1941, the Jewish refugees are welcomed by the local residents. Barbara says they were “treated like family” by the Dominicans. Despite such hospitality, life in Sosúa proves to be...
A brush with Ellis Island Barbara Bandler Steinmetz The Bandlers depart from Lisbon in May 1941 aboard the Portuguese vessel Nyassa bound for the Dominican Republic. Their first stop is another island, Ellis Island in New York Harbor. Ellis Island has been the most...
