Watch Sara Tolentino Slayen's testimony about how Jews in Dubrovnik were gradually deprived of their rights and freedom, leading to their eventual imprisonment in camps. Read her short biography.
Sara Tolentino Slayen was born on June 26, 1926. in Dubrovnik and is a descendant of one of the oldest Jewish families in Dubrovnik, Tolentino. Her father is Vito Tolentino, a toy dealer from Dubrovnik. Sara went to primary school in Dubrovnik and remembers that period as very beautiful, carefree and happy. Until 1941, when the Second World War began, when she was forbidden to go to school. After that, she and her family were deported first to the Hotel Wregg in Dubrovnik, and then to the island of Rab, to the fascist camp Kampor. They were there until the capitulation of Italy in September 1943. Then she and her family hid in several places in Croatia. Then, with the help of sailors, they came to the island of Pag, where they hid for a while, then to the island of Ist and across it to Bari in Italy. There she spent some time in a refugee camp organized by the British. After the end of the war, she received permission to emigrate to the United States of America. There they settled in San Diego, where Sara married Nel Slayen. There she studied drama and worked. Later, they moved to Los Angeles, where she did plays and plays.