How does a Jewish girl born with the name Gustawa Singer in mid-1930s Poland grow up in the United States known as Janet?

The simple answer to Singer’s transformation lies in luck and in love in a harrowing time under Nazi Germany rule during World War II.

Starting in late 1939 with Germany’s invasion of Poland, Singer, now Singer Applefield, and her parents left their home in Nowy Targ near Krakow. They were separated from extended family and each other, reunited and separated again.

Singer’s parents, Maria and Lolek, ultimately opted to give their blonde and blue-eyed 7-year-old daughter to a cousin in 1942 before they too went their separate ways. The Singers made the decision with the hope of protecting Gustawa from the inhumane Nazi regime under Adolf Hitler, who was determined to rid Jews from the face of the earth.

“They told me to listen to her (Maria), to be brave and we’d be reunited soon,” Singer Applefield told an audience at Aims Community College on Wednesday night. “I try to imagine if it’s something I would’ve done with my child. It’s unimaginable.”

Singer Applefield, now 89 and a resident of suburban Boston, spoke often of the unimaginable while recalling her story as a Holocaust survivor Wednesday night.

Singer Applefield addressed an attentive crowd of about 200 at Aims Community College in Greeley as part of the Holocaust Memorial Observances of Greeley and Northern Colorado’s annual Voices from the Holocaust week. Singer Applefield’s presentation was her third in two days and one of 11 free events planned by the organization through Sunday afternoon.

Singer Applefield’s book on her life, “Becoming Janet: Finding Myself in the Holocaust,” was published last year.

She answered multiple questions following the hour-long talk, and her moving story led to two standing ovations. Photos used in the presentation belonged to one of her grandfathers before leaving Poland for Russia. Singer Applefield married at 19 and had three children and five grandchildren, who all contributed to the telling of her story. Singer Applefield was joined here this week by her daughter, Deb Milley.

Singer Applefield started her talk saying she speaks to audiences each year to “increase the awareness of the dangers of hatred and injustice.”She emphasized the power of education to understand the Holocaust. Singer Applefield took the opportunity several times to stress the importance of standing up to injustices and the power of kindness.

Singer Applefield said she did not face any prejudice or intolerance in the U.S. after coming here as a girl. Current events, however, have reminded her of the injustices from decades ago. She mentioned groups of people facing discrimination, agencies being shut down and people losing jobs.

When asked if a Holocaust might ever happen again, Singer Applefield said there was a time she thought it was not possible in the U.S. Now, she’s not as sure.

“I’m frightened and disappointed in how divided our country is today,” she said, adding the Holocaust developed over years. “We all have the power, each and everyone of us has the power, to make the world a better place.”

Singer Applefield’s mother and several of her relatives were killed in a concentration camp in Poland. As a child, during the separation from her parents, Singer Applefield took on different identities and confronted Nazi soldiers in search of Jews.

She still remembers the sight of a Nazi officer who appeared at an apartment door with blonde hair, blue eyes and black leather boots.

“I was always scared of uniforms and no matter what uniforms,” Singer Applefield said.

She was left alone at a Polish Catholic church after being abandoned by another cousin who was supposed to care for the girl. The arrangement was made by Singer’s father while in a Jewish ghetto prison.

The cousin, Lala Singer, then only 19, abused and neglected Singer while they lived near Krakow, Poland. Lala Singer cruelly told Janet her mother was dead and beat the girl to injury.

The cousin was eventually killed after being taken by Nazis during a raid at a cafe while Janet sat at the church.

Out on the streets, Singer met a woman who placed the girl with a family named Golab in an apartment building. They took Janet to a farm in the country to escape a nearby member of the Gestapo, the Nazi’s police force.

She was later reunited with a paternal uncle, Lala’s father. The man, like his daughter, assumed the identity of a Catholic to protect himself during the war. Singer went through with the Catholic sacrament of Holy First Communion to maintain the appearance of a good Catholic family.

Singer Applefield eventually ended up in an orphanage with about 70 other kids.

The orphanage was opened by a woman named Lena Kuchler. While with Kuchler, Singer Applefield was reunited with her father when he came to the orphanage. Lolek Singer survived his experience in death camps. Late in the war, Lolek’s job was to dig up bodies for burning under Nazi watch.

“I was scared,” she said. “He looked like a skeleton.”

Antisemitism didn’t end with the war, and it eventually drove the Singers to the U.S. Singer’s father had an uncle in New Jersey and another in Palestine. He gave Janet the choice of where they were to live.

“I picked the U.S. because I heard money grew on trees,” Singer said, to laughter from the audience.

They sailed to the U.S. in March 1947. Her father received a medical visa to remove a bullet from his cheek. He was shot years before while in the Jewish ghetto.

Her father remarried to stay in the U.S. An uncle took Janet to school one day, and the girl needed a new name. She chose the French sounding Jannette, which was a cousin’s name. The uncle changed the name to Janet.