Biographical/Historical Information
David Gruenfeld was born in Uzhorod (Ruthenia) in 1915. He was training as an opera singer in Prague until the outbreak of hostilities in the late 1930s, and he was then interred at Theresienstadt. While imprisoned in the camp, Gruenfeld performed in operas including "Carmen" and "Der Kaiser von Atlantis," in the "Terezin Requiem" and also in various recitals. Gruenfeld was also trained in jewelry making, and he made jewelry at the camp in secret, as a way to make extra money, or in exchange for food or other resources. He survived Theresienstadt and in 1946 emigrated to the United States. He continued performing under the name David Garen as a soloist with various orchestras, as a member of the NBC Opera, and finally as a cantor in Huntington, Long Island. He died in Huntington in 1963.
Zuzana Justman (née Picková) was born in 1931 into an upper middle class Jewish family in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Her family included father Viktor Pick, who ran chemical factories, her mother Marie Picková, and her brother Jiří Robert (known as Bobby). The entire Pick family was sent to Theresienstadt in 1943. Marie and her two children survived Theresienstadt, while Victor had been killed in Auschwitz. After the rise of Communism in Czechoslovakia, Marie and Zuzana emigrated to Argentina in 1948. Bobby stayed in Prague and became a successful writer. Zuzana then came to America in 1950 to attend Vassar College; she later obtained a PhD in Slavic Linguistics at Columbia University. Justman has worked as a translator, writer, researcher, and filmmaker and playwright. Her documentaries include "Terezin Diary" (1989), "Czech Women: Now We Are Free" (1993), and "Voices of the Children" (1996) which won an Emmy and multiple other awards, and "A Trial in Prague" (2000). Justman's plays include "Waiting for Father" (2018) and a 2006 adaptation of a Czech play "The Unlucky Man in the Yellow Cap" originally written by her brother J.R. Pick in 1982.
Viktor Pick was born in 1893 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He ran chemical factories in Prauge. In 1924, he married Marie Picková (née Steuerová), and they had two children, their son Jiří Robert (known as Bobby), and their daughter Zuzana. The entire Pick family was sent to Theresienstadt in 1943. Marie and her two children survived Theresienstadt. Viktor was transported to Auschwitz in October 1944, where he was killed. Because there was no proof of Viktor's death for many years, Zuzana hoped for many years that they would be reunited (which was the subject of her semi-autobiographical play "Waiting for Father.")
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Citation
Grünfeld, David: Locket with a photo of Viktor Pick, Leo Baeck Institute, 2022.50.