An Auburn author is named to the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame.
By Lisa Chmelecki
Staff Writer

AUBURN – Judith Magyar Isaacson remembers reading a magazine article that explored the debate of what it takes to be Mainer.

Some said the title was reserved for those who were born and raised here. Others gave it a broader definition.

After living in Auburn for 57 years, Isaacson considered herself a Mainer. But given her heavy Hungarian accent and her well-known history as a survivor of the Holocaust, she wasn’t sure others would embrace her as one.

She got her answer a couple of weeks ago when she found out that she is being inducted into the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame.

“It came as quite a surprise to me,” the soft-spoken Isaacson said. “Somehow, it makes me feel like a real Mainer.”

The Maine Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs established the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame in 1990 to honor those who have made an outstanding contribution to improving opportunities for Maine women.

Isaacson, 78, and Sharon H. Abrams, the longtime executive director of the Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers in Waterville, are the newest inductees. They will be honored March 20 at a ceremony at the University of Maine at Augusta.

For decades, Isaacson has been speaking at schools, churches and other venues throughout Maine about her experiences as a 19-year-old in concentration and Nazi labor camps.

In 1944, she and her family were taken from Hungary to Auschwitz. After three months at the camp, she was assigned to the Dynamit-Nobel munitions factory, where she worked as a Nazi slave.

Isaacson eventually decided to write a book about her experiences. She hoped that her story of survival would give hope to young teens struggling with all types of problems.

Published in 1991, “Seed of Sarah: Memoirs of a Survivor” has been acclaimed for its feminist perspective on the Nazi atrocities.

It tells of Isaacson’s experiences pulling carts laden with live artillery, her struggles in the post-war years and her subsequent move to Auburn with her American husband, local attorney Irving Isaacson.

Paving the way

Isaacson is honored that Bates College nominated her for the award. She credited the college for playing a major role in her success.

After Isaacson sent her third child to school, she decided to return to college. She wanted to go to Bates but she was 35, and the college didn’t accept nontraditional students.

She eventually convinced Bates to make an exception. She graduated in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, then went on to earn a master’s degree at Bowdoin College.

“It was a big pleasure for me to be accepted at Bates, after my education had been so rudely interrupted,” she said. “I wanted to pave the way for other women.”

From 1969 to 1977, Isaacson served as the dean of women and dean of students at Bates College. During that time, she worked to end discriminatory practices.

Among other accomplishments, she spearheaded an effort to eliminate separate codes of conduct for men and women.

Isaacson now is working on her second book. Among other things, she writes about a feeling she has experienced while attending a formal ceremony, graduation or other prestigious event.

She imagines herself walking with her shaven head through Auschwitz. She is naked, battered and starving.

“The contrasts are amazing,” she said. “I have to ask myself, ‘Is this really me?'”

lchmelecki@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link