Mother's Day Gift to the ACLU MN Foundation

I am honoring my mom, Stephanie Green (nee Dabkowski), this Mother’s Day as someone whose life experience has inspired me to serve on the Board of the ACLU of Minnesota.

My mom was born in Surowe, Poland, and she and her mom, my grandmother, left Poland in 1939, when Poland was invaded by Hitler.  My mom was eight years old at the time and had just completed the second grade.  My mom spent the war years of World War II in Germany, where she and my grandma were “displaced persons” required to work without pay as slave laborers on German farms.  My mom was frequently separated from her mother, who was assigned to different farms, and she was not allowed to attend school.

My mom was able to immigrate to the United States at the end of the war, when she was 16.  Her dream was once again to attend school, which she did, enrolling in the ninth grade at Chadsey High School in Detroit, Michigan.  In addition to needing to make up for seven years of missed school, my mom needed to learn a new language.  One of the first assignments in her English class was to read David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, which was quite a challenge for her.  Nevertheless, my mom graduated three years later and went on to have a successful career in real estate in the Detroit area.

My mom is now 88 years old and alas, is in a memory care facility near Philadelphia.  But one memory that has not faded for her is the memory of the bedroom furniture set her mother bought her as a high school graduation present, which she continues to use to this day.  My mom’s pride in graduating from high school, despite the obstacles, is evident in her enthusiasm for sharing the story of how she got it.

In advancing the cause of civil liberties, the ACLU provides a voice to those whose civil liberties are denied, and its mission reminds me of the injustice my mom endured as a child in the midst of a world war.  The ACLU’s important work fighting for justice empowers individuals whose life circumstances deny them the civil liberties guaranteed by our Constitution.  In celebration of Mother’s Day this year, I invite you to join me in supporting the ACLU’s efforts to help individuals like my mom realize their dreams.