Best friends seperated as kids while fleeing the Nazis are reunited after 82 years

Betty Grebenschikoff and Ana María Wahrenberg, best friends since childhood were reunited after 80 years. They were not permitted to play in many public locations as children in Berlin right before World War II. Their families were Jewish, and they were separated from the rest of Berlin by legislation. Despite their hardships, the girls went to school together and spent time at one other's residences, per Goalcast. When the Nazis launched a wave of anti-Semitic violence against German civilians known as Kristallnacht in November 1938, both girls' families realized they had to evacuate the city.

Grebenschikoff told The Washington Post, "We just stayed with each other and we managed even to get in trouble in each other’s homes- eating too much candy and playing tricks on our mothers and so on." After realizing that they had to leave the city, the girls "thought that was just fine because we weren’t used to running around outside anymore." Grebenschikoff further said, "My family and I… sat on the floor in our apartment and switched off the lights, and we were told to be very quiet so the neighbors would think we were not home, so they wouldn’t denounce us to the mobs." She added, "Crystal Night was the turning point for everyone- even for eight-year-olds.”  

Grebenschikoff's family chose to depart in the spring of 1939. The girls' fathers led them to the playground to say their goodbyes, and they cried as they held each other. Grebenschikoff's family originally sought refuge in Shanghai, where they were not required to get a VISA. After that, they moved to Australia for ten years before settling in the United States permanently three years later. However, Wahrenberg's family relocated to Santiago, Chile, and remained there. Wahrenberg is still a resident of the house today. Grebenschikoff said, "I wrote her a letter when I got to Shanghai, which I believe she still has. And I told her where I was and that we would stay in touch. But I never heard from her. Never heard another word. Nothing." She presumed her friend had died. 

Grebenschikoff went on to become a Holocaust educator, writing a book and lecturing at venues around the United States about her experiences. Wahrenberg also grew up on the same professional path and was educating people in Chile, per The Post. They both were constantly searching for each other but it wasn't easy as lo they had changed their first names. Ultimately, Ita Gordon of the USC Shoah Foundation discovered the connection between the two ladies. Grebenschikoff said. "It was real and unreal at the same time. It was just wonderful." 

For the first time in almost 80 years, the women were connected via Zoom. The two soon caught up, sharing details about their life, reminiscing over happy times, and pledging to stay in touch. Finally, in 2021, they met and hugged each other after about 82 years of separation. They had food together, shopped, and spent plenty of time with each other's family.