Mariette Bermowitz, (born Mindele Birencwajg) was born in Brussels in1938. In 1942 she escaped with her father during a raid by the Gestapo. Her mother and four siblings perished in the camps. Mariette spent a year in a convent in the Belgian countryside, but because of raids by the Gestapo, she was moved to the safer town of Fraiture, where she lived with the sisters of the Mother Superior for the remainder of the war.
Her father brought her to Brooklyn in 1951 when she was twelve. Mariette graduated from Brooklyn College and became a French teacher in the New York City Public School System. She was married for ten years to Alan Bermowitz, later known as Alan Vega Suicide, an artist and musician who was at the forefront of the Punk Rock movement of the Seventies. After meeting a young medical student in 1975, she relocated to Shiraz, Iran, where she learned Farsi and taught French and English at Pahlavi University. She traveled extensively in the Near East and returned to the States in 1977. After she retired from teaching she co-founded the Miette Culinary Studio, a cooking school. Several years later she became a language consultant for the international oil company Schlumberger. She also taught a French language immersion course for the State University at New Paltz.
She studied writing with Nathalie Goldberg in Taos, New Mexico, June Foley at the New School in Manhattan, Veronica Golos at the 92nd Street Y. In 2005 she began the momentous work of writing the story of her life as a hidden child of the Holocaust, with the assistance of writing coach and editor, Nancy Wait.
Mindele's Journey 
Mariette, I love the blog!!! Can’t wait to read more and super excited for the book to come out. You are an amazing and wonderful person and we are so lucky we have you in our lives.
How wonderful to get such a wonderful response and from so far away. Can’t wait to see you. By then I will have the book in my possession. So much to talk about.
Your website looks great! I’m anxiously awaiting your book which I know will be very successful and reflect your amazing zest and appreciation of life. Mazel Tov!
So glad that you liked the website. The book should be quite soon on Amazon!!! Can’t wait to share it with you. And thanks for being such a true and wonderful friend.
Mariette, congratulations for your accomplishment. The site looks great, and I wish you every success with your memoir.
I’m glad you were able to see the website and liked it. I plan on more postings and hope you will enjoy those as well. The book to follow by the end of the month. Finally it’s all falling into place!
Mariette, you are by far one of the most interesting, fearless, and beautiful people I know. So glad you are sharing your amazing story. It really should be heard. Can’t wait for the book!
I look forward to your reading it and hearing your comments. I especially hope you enjoy the reading of it!
This is great Mariette, congratulations!!! I can’t wait to read your memoir!!! Maybe, I’ll have it in my possession so that I can have a personal dedication 😉 when I see you in June. I am so happy for you that my heart is smiling. You are the BEST!
Thank you my sweetest Nicole. I look forward to your comments and hope you enjoy the reading. A bientot
Dearest Cousin,
I am thrilled to be sharing your website with you! When we were little girls, I clearly remember you telling me that someday you were going to write the story of your life!!!f course Well, here we are so many years later and you finally did it !!! I am so proud of you!!! I love you very much and think about you all the time; and, of course, I am envisioning your book will be a great success!!! Deepest Love,
Marlene
I was so touched to read “Dearest Cousin”…..as you are my only and dearest relative. It is wonderful to be able to share memories with a darling cousin who knew and knows me so well. I hope you enjoy the book although I treated the family harshly but….that’s the way I saw and felt it! I look forward to your reading it. With much love,
Mariette
Mariette, What fun! Your book is on order. I can’t wait to read it. Congratulations on such a splendid launch.
Mary
Mariette,
I just finished reading your book. I was so moved by your honesty and courage! It is a beautiful story that made me laugh a few times and cry more than a few. It also brought me back to my time in Liege, even though our circumstances were so different for being there, it was nice to revisit those memories. I wish you much success in publishing and hope that many more people will be fortunate enough to travel with you through your many lifetimes.
Tracy Howard
Dear Tracy,
I so appreciate your comments. It took me ten years to write the book so I am so grateful to know that it is acknowledged. I also find it rewarding to be able to touch a chord in the reader’s mind and heart. And to think that I have been able to realize the dream of processing my life into words is overwhelming! Thank you again.
Wishing you a very blessed and wondrous 2013!
Mariette
Thank you so much for your comments if I haven’t already done so. It is so encouraging to get a reply like yours. It keeps my spirits up and certainly my hopes that many more people will read the memoir!
Bonjour! What a surprise when I came across your book on Amazon. I was in your French class in Erasmus HS and have thought about you over the years because you had taught us a couple of French songs which often come into my head (one about a “Cuckoo”). I was very shy and too nervous to participate in class, but I always enjoyed it because of you. We didn’t know anything about our teachers in those days, but you always stood out as one of my favorites. I am going to read your book and from what I have read about it, you are a very special person – I knew it!
Dear Brenda,
I am always overwhelmed when a former student reconnects with me! It is so rewarding to know that I have made somewhat of an impact as a teacher. I feel blessed that I spent so many years sharing my knowledge, thoughts and love with every single one of my lovely teenagers! Erasmus seems like such long time ago yet the memories and feelings of an incredible student body remains. I hope you find my memoir well written and above all communicating a period of life that we as conscientious beings should not forget. The book is my legacy and humble contribution to the many stories dealing with a shattering time in the history of the twentieth century. I would love to hear from you. And thank you so much for contacting me…..
Mariette, I just finished reading your book. Your parents both sound like unbelievable people. How I would love to contact/meet you. Can you please send me an email address? Je n’ai pouvias pas fermer votre livre, et j’est lui lire avec une boite de mouchoire a cote de moi. Je vie en Jerusalem maintenant, depuis 1990, mais je vien a Etats Unis (NY) a la prochaine semaine. If you can let me know if meeting you would be possible, my email is dfbg770@yahoo.com.
thanks so much, merci beaucoup! Debbie
Thank you for sending your response to reading my book. It is always appreciated and heartwarming knowing that I did a good job!