Penina Bowman was 17 years old when soldiers showed up at her family home in Hungary and told them they had 20 minutes to pack their bags. They were told they were being sent away to work but the train they were loaded into brought them to Auschwitz.

Penina lost both parents and 42 other relatives to the Holocaust, but she and her three siblings survived. She credits her faith and staying together with her sisters for her survival.

Even with all that PeniMediana has experienced, she refuses to hate anybody. She believes that hate is a powerful emotion that serves to destroy yourself rather than the people you direct it toward.