After many years Milton opened a box of documents that his mother had saved, starting him on a journey to discover the story of his family during the Shoah. Starting in Vienna including an arrest and transport to Dachau, then to Luxembourg, on to Lisbon and Cuba before ending in the US, the family odyssey took years to fully discover. His research took several unusual turns including donations to the USHMM, which led to unforeseen connections. He will describe the twists and turns of his voyage of discovery and the unusual events that ended with a fully explored history of his family’s saga.

Dr. Milton Koch was born in Havana, Cuba, where his parents emigrated from Lisbon, in 1942, after leaving Luxembourg following Eichmann’s invasion of that country. He has been working on his family genealogy for the past 20+ years. He is a retired physician, having specialized in gastroenterology. He serves as secretary for Gesher Galicia.