New Exhibit Honors Holocaust Survivor Writer Lore Segal

At 96, writer Lore Segal left behind a remarkable legacy that's now being celebrated in a moving exhibition at New York's Center for Jewish History. "And That's True Too: The Life and Work of Lore Segal" honors a woman who turned childhood survival into a lifetime of literary brilliance.

Born in Vienna in 1928, Lore was just 10 when she boarded the Kindertransport after Kristallnacht, leaving her parents behind to find safety in England. She bounced between foster homes, eventually reuniting with her family and settling in Manhattan's Washington Heights, where she discovered her voice as a writer.

What made Segal's work special was its unflinching honesty. Her 1964 autobiographical novel "Other People's Houses" told her refugee story without sentimentality or easy answers. She insisted that memory, especially of traumatic events, isn't perfect, and that's okay.

"We tried to give you an insight into Lore's ability to look at the world from many angles," said curator Karin Hanta at the exhibit's opening. That perspective, captured in the show's title from "King Lear," celebrates holding opposing truths at once.

For decades, Segal wrote stories for The New Yorker and published novels that explored complex themes like race and Holocaust history. Her 1985 novel "Her First American" earned widespread acclaim, and her short story collection "Shakespeare's Kitchen" became a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2007.

Later in life, Segal found humor in unexpected places. Her "Ladies' Lunch" stories about elderly Manhattan friends dealing with the daily indignities of aging are both hilarious and deeply human. They show that laughter and loss can coexist.

The exhibit displays treasures from Segal's life: notebooks from her London college days filled with early stories, manuscripts covered in endless revisions, and a childhood friendship book with entries from foster parents and her father. Each item tells a story of persistence and creativity blooming despite displacement.

Why This Inspires

Segal's life proves that trauma doesn't have to be the end of anyone's story. She took the pain of being separated from her parents as a child and transformed it into literature that helped others understand the refugee experience with nuance and grace.

Her "unbridled curiosity," as actress Toni Kalem described it, never dimmed. She taught generations of writers, formed deep friendships with literary giants like Cynthia Ozick and Grace Paley, and kept creating until the end.

Admirers noted that Segal was just one year younger than Anne Frank, and became the kind of writer Anne might have been. That observation isn't about comparison but about possibility: what beauty can emerge when young people survive and are given the chance to grow.

Three of her books are being reissued this spring, and a posthumous collection will introduce new readers to her work. Decades after leaving Vienna, Segal's words continue teaching us that multiple truths can exist, that memory is complex, and that honest storytelling heals.

Her legacy reminds us that curiosity, creativity, and connection can flourish even after unimaginable loss.