Lindenstraus' family did not realize it was time for them to leave until Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, occurred in 1938 when Nazis burned synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses, and murdered close to 100 Jews and sent thousands of Jewish men to concentration camps.

"The next day I went to school but it was no longer there," Lindenstraus said.

However, the family had limited options. In July 1938, representatives from 32 countries attended the Evian Conference in France, and none agreed to accept a significant number of Jewish refugees, including the United States, the United Kingdom and France.

Only two destinations were available to the Jewish family — Shanghai or the island of Madagascar on the coast of Africa. They chose the former, an open city where no visa was required for entry.

The family of Ellen Chaim, who later in life changed her name to Ellen Kracko, had never considered leaving Berlin before Kristallnacht, a place where her family had been living for generations.

"We are Germans, my grandfather fought for the Germans during World War I," Kracko said. "They considered themselves good German citizens. But then Kristallnacht happened and they realized that they could not stay there anymore."