George Rishfeld was a toddler when his parents threw him over the barbed wire fence of the Vilna ghetto to save his life. On Wednesday, August 19, the 87-year-old Holocaust survivor will tell that story in person at Dunwoody United Methodist Church.
The presentation runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the church sanctuary at 1548 Mt. Vernon Road. The church described the evening as dedicated to "learning, bearing witness, and ensuring that we never forget what took place during that period of history," according to its event listing.
A child hidden in plain sight
Rishfeld was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1939. He was six months old when World War II began and his family fled to Vilna, Lithuania, hoping to find safety. When the German army occupied Vilna in June 1941, Jews were forced into the ghetto, and his parents, Richard and Lucy Rishfeld, made a desperate decision.
They arranged for their son to be thrown over the ghetto's barbed wire fence into the arms of Helinka Franchevitz, the daughter of a Catholic family who agreed to raise him as their own. George lived hidden with the Franchevitz family for three years in a Warsaw apartment.
"The Nazi patroller checked the bed, but had he fully checked underneath, I would not be here today," Rishfeld said at a Holocaust Remembrance Day event at Middle Tennessee State University on April 15.
His father escaped the Vilna ghetto in 1943 and hid in a cave for two and a half years. His mother, Lucy, survived by working in a factory making clothing for soldiers and was freed when U.S. forces liberated the camps. The family reunited after the war and emigrated to the United States in 1949, settling in Manhattan.
A life dedicated to witness
After graduating high school at 17, Rishfeld joined the National Guard in 1957. He and his late wife, Pamela, raised two daughters and have six grandchildren.
Rishfeld has spoken at venues across the Southeast, including a Georgia Commission on the Holocaust event in November 2018 and the MTSU appearance in April, where 155 people attended. Faculty organizer Ashley Valanzola called it "one of the bigger events that we've had."
Rishfeld has said he believes he survived so he could share the story. With approximately 196,000 Holocaust survivors alive globally as of January 2026, according to figures from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, opportunities to hear first-person testimony are dwindling.
How to attend
The event is open to the community. No registration is listed on the church's event page. For questions, contact Dunwoody UMC at (770) 394-0675 or [email protected].
Upcoming community events
- Wednesday, August 19 — George Rishfeld's Holocaust presentation, 7–8:30 p.m., Dunwoody United Methodist Church, 1548 Mt. Vernon Road
