Stella Lewinsky Yollin was born in 1931 in Tczew, Poland. She had two brothers and her parents owned a small clothing store. In 1938, her family moved to Lodz, Poland. One of her earliest memories was at the school when other boys would taunt and yell at her, “Hey Jew, go back to Palestine!” On September 1, 1939, the Nazis invaded Poland. Her father, being an ex-pilot, was drafted into the Polish air force. Within the week her whole family was forced out of their synagogue, forced out of their businesses, forced to wear yellow armbands, and then yellow Stars of David sewn onto their clothing. In February 1940, while they were living in Lodz, the Nazis formed the ghetto and they were forced to move out of their modest apartment and into an apartment that did not have running water or bathrooms.