Sylvia Gruen Salomon honors her mother, Irma Schlorch Gruen, her father, Alfred David Gruen and brother, Joseph Stephen Gruen, all survivors of Nazi Germany. Her mother was from Obbach, Germany and her father from Sulzberg, Germany. They came to America in 1941, with their toddler son, Joe, and only the clothes on their backs. They left their parents and many other family members behind. It was after being imprisoned and then released from the concentration camp at Dachau that Sylvia’s father was able to obtain an exit visa to the US. The family emigrated first to Indianapolis, Indiana (where Gordon and Sylvia were born) before settling in Memphis, Tennessee.In Germany,“Al” was not only an orthodox Jewish cantor but also a professor to high school students. He was an accomplished soccer player there as well. In the United States, he worked as a salesman but also became the Indiana state chess champion and Memphis city chess champion.Irma worked for 25 years as a manager of a boutique clothing store in Memphis. Al and Irma celebrated their 72nd anniversary on Lag B’Omer, 2007, while together in the Memphis Jewish Home.
The Nashville Holocaust Memorial