Barbara's parents went to Italy in 1927 and opened a hotel on the Adriatic.  They stayed there for 12 years until Italy passed laws saying Jews could not own businesses.  They returned to Gyor, Hungary with the intention of saying goodbye to family and leaving Europe.  Alexander went from embassy to embassy looking for somewhere to flee but was refused entry by every embassy.  Finally in the fall of 1939, the family went to Nice, France where the only jobs Alexander and Margaret could get were as cooks.  Margaret had a degree in Chemistry but could not find work as a chemist.  In 1940, the family moved to Lisbon and once again Alexander went from embassy to embassy looking for somewhere they could go but was denied again.  At that time, the Dominican Republic was willing to take 100,000 Jews and in May, 1941 the family left on the last ship to leave Europe, paid for by the Joint Distribution Committee.  They had to stop on Ellis Island and spent two weeks waiting for the ship to take them to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.  When they arrived, everyone was given a plot of land and they were responsible for building their own houses.  Most of the immigrants were professionals and knew nothing about building a house or farming, everything was very primitive and they were not used to the tropical climate.  Margaret got very sick and was told they should move up into the mountains where it was much cooler so she could recover.  The family got a house in the mountains which they turned into a hotel and then acquired two more houses to add to the hotel.  People would come to their hotel to recover from the dysentery and malaria that was so common in the tropical climate.  In September of 1942, Barbara and her sister were sent to a convent school where they lived for three years.  In the beginning it was very difficult for them being separated from their parents but they loved the nuns who loved them in return and ended up being very happy there.  The four years the family spent in the Dominican Republic were very happy years.  In the Spring of 1945 the family finally received visas to come to the United States and arrived in Miami on June 1, 1945.  They stayed there for two weeks, visiting with an Uncle who lived in Miami.  As their sponsors lived in Boston, they had to live in Boston.  The Jewish Welfare Federation found work for Alexander and Margaret at a resort and Barbara and her sister were sent to camp in New Hampshire.  It was a very difficult time for all of them as no one spoke English and they were separated from each other.  After the summer, the family reunited in Boston.  Alexander found work as a chef and Margaret worked in a chocolate factory.  Alex was fired from job after job.  They eventually moved to New York and he got a job as a chef and Margaret ended up working as a maid.  In 1950, Alexander decided he could not spend enough time with his family working as a chef and he got a job as an advertising salesman.  They moved to Detroit as Alex was offered a job.  Barbara learned resilience and strength watching her parents go through everything they had to do to protect their family.  Barbara said her family's experience affected everything she did, the way she lived, the way she raised her children, her education.