Ida Sztamfater: The Power of Family Memory, Overcoming Adversity
The story of Ida Sztamfater is a living testimony to how Holocaust memory and the resilience inherited from her mother shaped a life dedicated to care and solidarity. Her mother, born in Poland, survived by hiding in a barn thanks to the courage of Catholic neighbors who risked their own lives.
The hiding place was near the dog’s kennel, and there, among bones and marrow left from the dog’s food, her mother fought to survive.
Yes — her mother ate bone marrow to stay alive!
After the war, her parents met in a refugee camp in Germany, then moved to Bolivia and later to Brazil, where they rebuilt their lives. Her mother’s family survived intact; her father’s family, only one brother who had emigrated before the war.
These experiences shaped Ida’s home life. Wasting food was a grave offense, financial discipline an unbreakable rule. Her mother never went to sleep without a piece of bread in the house, and education was seen as the one possession no one could take away. Growing up in this environment meant learning resilience and recognizing that antisemitism had not ended. Decades later, in the face of new horrors, Ida realized it was her mother who gave her strength and serenity.
“We only discover we are strong when being strong is our only option,” she sums up.
Today, at 69, Ida leads the AMIGO_H project at Hospital Albert Einstein, offering essential support to patients and families. Her journey reflects the discipline and perseverance passed down by her mother, but also a personal achievement: learning to say “no” as a form of self-care and vitality. For Ida, every challenge becomes fuel to generate positive impact.
Her campaign for preventive health translates into simple gestures — like choosing the stairs instead of the escalator — reinforcing her conviction that aging with quality is not only possible, but necessary.
Ida dreams of seeing in Brazil the same protagonism of older adults that she observes in countries like the United States, Italy, and Greece, where autonomy and public presence are more valued.
Along this journey, she is accompanied by one of Brazil’s most respected medical leaders: Claudio Lottenberg. A physician, president of the Brazilian Jewish Confederation, and commissioner for combating antisemitism at the World Jewish Congress, Lottenberg works internationally in defense of human rights and religious freedom. He also chairs the Board of Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein and previously led the institution during a period of expansion and excellence that consolidated its place among the world’s leading hospitals.
For Ida, however, Claudio represents much more than professional and institutional achievements. He is her life partner, with whom she shares dreams, values, and the commitment to building a better society, transforming lives inside and outside medicine.
In an interview with the program Ladoa!, hosted by Madeleine Lacsko, Ida shared that caring for life is an act of resistance. By uniting the memory of Polish resistance against Nazism with her own experience, she inspires by showing that vitality and solidarity are conscious choices. Her story reminds us that the fight for human dignity continues — now in the field of health and solidarity, where every act of care becomes a form of resistance.
A turning point in her journey came with a breast cancer diagnosis after the pandemic. A classical dancer and lifelong athlete, with no family history of cancer, Ida had gone two years without a mammogram during isolation. When she resumed exams, she was diagnosed with an early-stage malignant tumor. Her husband was deeply shaken, but she faced it as a “detour along the way.” Now, in her third year of remission, she feels cured and sees the episode as a call to inspire other women to take care of themselves.
“Prevention or early detection saves, cures,” she affirms.
Ida Sztamfater’s journey connects historical memory with contemporary action. By transforming adversity into purpose, she inspires by showing that aging with vitality, caring for health, and practicing solidarity are conscious choices. Her life is a reminder that resistance continues — now in the realm of human dignity, prevention, and self-care.
Written by Liane G. Zaidler and Silas Anastacio
