PRAIRIE VILLAGE ? Eight days in Millie Kritzler’s life made a world of difference.

It was Aug. 1, 1941, and Kritzler needed to be under the age of 12 to escape Nazi-occupied France. She would turn 12 on Aug. 9.

Eight days separated her from a concentration camp. Eight days separated her from the suffering that millions of Jewish people experienced under the Nazi regime.

And eight days separated her from a life completely different from the one she has led.

The Prairie Village woman’s life story is one of loss, of strength, of dignity and of finding the good in people around her. It is a story of the completion of a life circle as she donates a large gift to the Jewish Community Foundation in honor of a Kansas City family that took her in as their own.

Kritzler was born to a Jewish family in Germany in 1929. Nine years later, her parents sent her on a train to France. They wanted her to be away from the horrors that were to come. She, along with other young Jewish children, was put into a home for children. Everyone hoped they would be safe there.

But 2 1/2 years later they weren’t safe. They had to be moved. That is, if they were under the age of 12. Kritzler, along with about 50 other children, was put on a train. They traveled for days on a segmented journey that eventually led to the United States and, for Kritzler, to Kansas City.

At one point their train stopped in the Pyrenees. Kritzler looked out and saw her parents at a train station, which was under guard of Nazi soldiers. Through the window, she touched their fingertips; she held their hands for a few precious moments. They handed her a sack of apples and then the train began to move again.

That was the last time she saw her parents, who in the end perished in a concentration camp. That final moment is one she has cherished ever since.

“We couldn’t kiss,” Kritzler said. “But it was wonderful just to see my parents again.”

Later, the train slowed in the Spanish countryside. Kritzler looked out and saw people begging for food. They were starving. She quickly handed out her sack of apples to those people. They are hungrier than I, she thought.

Her charitable spirit has not ceased as she’s grown older. Kritzler recently donated to the Jewish Community Foundation a monetary gift that the foundation described as sizable. A large portion of that donation will go toward the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, most likely to provide scholarships.

“I wanted to help keep Judaism alive for children who are coming along,” Kritzler said.

It was Hyman and Clara Brand who took Kritzler in when she was a refugee in Kansas City. They welcomed her into their home; they made her part of the family. They also sponsored Kritzler’s brother, Walter Stras, and his wife, Malvina, to come to the United States when they were found after the war.

For that, Kritzler is eternally grateful.

The Jewish Community Foundation is just as grateful to Kritzler.

“So much about Judaism is about remembering and about rebirth,” said Merilyn Berenbom, president of the foundation. “There will be a child at the academy that wouldn’t have gotten to go to the school without Millie. Just as Hyman Brand opened his doors to her, she has opened the doors for these children. This donation will be making a difference in people’s lives for a long time to come.”