Countries through which people fled: Philippines

Brigitte Wachs was born in Graz in 1932 as Brigitte Welisch. After the Anschluss her father and her uncle were imprisoned in Dachau Concentration camp for a short period. After their release the family fled to the Philippines via Italy, where they experienced the Japanese occupation. In 1948, Wachs emigrated with her family to the USA. After completing high school, Wachs studied art at a college in New York. Afterwards she worked as a textile designer and later as an illustrator. At the time of the interview, Wachs was living in New Jersey.