(Jewish Group) A Jewish teen put her baby up for adoption in WWII. They just reunited.

Gerda Cole, 98, reunited with her daughter, Sonya Grist, 79, after eight decades apart. Cole, who was a Jewish refugee in England during World War II, gave her newborn daughter up for adoption because she couldn't care for her. (Courtesy of Revera)


Gerda Cole, 98, knew little about her only child apart from the name she gave her at birth. She wasn’t even sure if “Sonya” stuck.

In 1942, when she was just 18, Cole was brokenhearted as she gave her newborn daughter up for adoption to a German couple living in England. Cole had recently escaped Austria and the Nazis, and was living as a Jewish refugee in England.

“I felt it was only fair to her,” said Cole, explaining that she was in a miserable marriage that was falling apart and couldn’t afford to care for a child on her own. Cole is an only child, and though her mother managed to survive World War II, her father was killed by the Nazis.

As a teenage refugee, Cole had no money, no job, and was still adjusting to a new country. She didn’t think she had the means to give her daughter the life she deserved.

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