20 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 

W

est Bloomfield’s Lori 
Ellis will be joining her 
Holocaust survivor mother, 
Sophie Tajch Klisman, and her 
mother’s liberator, Doug Harvey, when 
they speak together about 
the Holocaust at the First 
United Methodist Church of 
Troy on Jan. 27, International 
Holocaust Remembrance Day. 
The event is open to the public 
and starts at 7 p.m. 
“They speak in order 
to continue the mission 
of educating others about 
the dangers of prejudice, hatred, 
antisemitism and bigotry,” Ellis said. 
“They are a dynamic duo.”
Klisman of Commerce Township 
also speaks at the Zekelman Holocaust 

Center in Farmington Hills to adults, 
professional organizations, athletes, 
ROTC college students and children 
whenever they need her. 
Speaking about her experiences 
in the Holocaust is still a 
relatively new thing for 
Klisman, 93. It was right about 
the time the family took a trip 
to Klisman’s home country of 
Poland in 2016 to retrace her 
and her husband’s roots that 
she started talking a little bit 
about her experiences, Ellis 
recalled. 
“She went her whole adult life 
without ever discussing anything with 
my dad, brother or me,” Ellis said. 
“But since my dad [also a Holocaust 
survivor] died and never spoke about 

A Survivor’s Story

OUR COMMUNITY

Local Holocaust survivor and liberator to speak 
on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Lori Ellis

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Sophie and hus-
band Bernard Klisman, both Holocaust survi-
vors. Sophie Tajch Klisman right after the war 
in a DP camp. Sophie in DP camp at age 16.