Csepel, Czaniec, Davos, Delvin, Dimona, El Paso, Esslingen, Frankfurt am Main, Gdynia, Geneva, Givat Haviva, Haifa, Hajdúböszörmény, Hartford, Herzliya, Hronov, Jerusalem, Kansas City, Kaunas, Konstanz, Kraków, Kutná Hora, London, Los Angeles, Lubin, Miskolc, Montreal, Mukachevo, Naples, New York, Odolice, Orsha, Oslo, Ostrava, Paris, Prague, Providence, Sárospatak, Thessaloniki, Topol’čany, Toronto, Turany nad Ondavou, Vel’ký Meder, Vienna, Vilnius, Vitebsk, Warsaw, Yad Hanna, Yalta, Yenakiieve, Zabrze, Zurich.
When the persecutions by Nazi Germany began throughout Europe, the children of Auschwitz featured in this book were babies, toddlers and children up to 14 years old. When they were forced to work as slaves or were interned for the first time in ghettos or camps, they were all children. When they were transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, four were juveniles, none of the others older than 15. Four of the children were born in Auschwitz.
The children of Auschwitz interviewed for this book are among the very last survivors. Herbert Adler, Yehuda Bacon, Halina Birenbaum, Robert Büchler, Gábor Hirsch, Lydia Holznerová, Krzysztof J., Otto Klein, Kola Klimczyk, Josif Konvoj, Eduard Kornfeld, Heinz Salvator Kounio, Géza Kozma, Ewa Krcz-Siezka, Vera Kriegel, Dagmar Lieblová, Dasha Lewin, Channa Loewenstein, Israel Loewenstein, Mirjam M., Jack Mandelbaum, Angela Orosz-Richt, Lidia Rydzikowska, Olga Solomon, Jiří Steiner, William Wermuth, Barbara Wesołowska and other children of Auschwitz were willing to tell the story of their survival, and life afterwards.
The life stories of the children of Auschwitz are based above all on numerous lengthy interviews with them, their families and friends. This book could never have been written without the willingness of the children of Auschwitz to provide information, without their hospitality, their openness and their trust. It is their book first and foremost. It contains the life stories of people who know more than others what life means.
Notes
Apart from the interviews above, there were numerous other unrecorded interviews with the children of Auschwitz and their families. All interviewees also made records, letters, documents and photos available. The interviews and personal documents and correspondence (letters, emails and telephone calls) are not generally mentioned specifically in the notes. The following sources were also used.
(All translations are by Nick Somers, unless otherwise marked.)
1 1 See, in particular, Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews (Chicago 1961), and Götz Aly, ‘Endlösung’ – Völkerverschiebung und Mord an den europäischen Juden (Frankfurt am Main 2017).
2 2 Franciszek Piper, ‘Mass Murder’, in Wacław Długoborski and Franciszek Piper, eds., Auschwitz 1940–1945: Central Issues in the History of the Camp, vols. I–V, trans. from Polish by William Brand (Oświęcim 2000), vol. III, pp. 11–52, 205–31; Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum (Teresa Świebocka, Jadwiga Pinderska-Lech and Jarko Mensfelt), Auschwitz-Birkenau: The Past and the Present (Oświęcim 2016), pp. 6–12.
3 3 Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, Auschwitz-Birkenau.
4 4 Piper, ‘Mass Murder’; moreover, from the first day of occupation onwards, Jews were ruthlessly murdered in the countries invaded by Nazi Germany, by German ‘Einsatzgruppen’ and ‘Einsatzkommandos’ (mobile killing units), but also by Wehrmacht units. According to the United States Holocaust Museum, 1.3 million Jews were shot by Wehrmacht and SS units or killed in gas trucks on the territory of the former Soviet Union alone: United States Holocaust Museum, Documenting Numbers of Victims of the Holocaust and Nazi Persecution | The Holocaust Encyclopedia (ushmm.org).
5 5 Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, Auschwitz-Birkenau, p. 12 (prepared by Piper).
6 6 Helena Kubica, Geraubte Kindheit – In Auschwitz befreite Kinder [Stolen Childhood: Children Liberated in Auschwitz] (Oświęcim, October 2021), pp. 7, 59. Altogether, 400,000 babies, children and women were registered in Auschwitz, including over 23,500 children and juveniles, almost all of whom were murdered.
7 7 Ibid., pp. 17, 33, 64.
8 8 Helena Kubica, Pregnant Women and Children in Auschwitz (Oświęcim 2010), p. 13; see also George M. Weisz and Konrad Kwiet, ‘Managing Pregnancy in Nazi Concentration Camps: The Role of Two Jewish Doctors’, in Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal (Israel), 9.3 (July 2018).
9 9 Alwin Meyer, Mama, ich höre dich – Mütter, Kinder und Geburten in Auschwitz (Göttingen 2021), pp. 104–62.
Acknowledgements
This book could not have been written without the cooperation and willingness to provide information of the following:
Herbert Adler, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Yehuda Bacon, Jerusalem, Israel
Halina Birenbaum, Herzliya, Israel
Robert Büchler, Lahavot Haviva, Israel
Gábor Hirsch, Esslingen, Switzerland
Lydia Holznerová, Prague, Czech Republic
Krzysztof J., Poland and Germany
Otto Klein, Geneva, Switzerland
Kola Klimczyk, Kraków, Poland
Josif Konvoj, Vilnius, Lithuania
Eduard Kornfeld, Zurich, Switzerland
Heinz Salvator Kounio, Thessaloniki, Greece
Géza Kozma, Budapest, Hungary
Ewa Krcz-Siezka, Poland
Vera Kriegel, Dimona, Israel
Dasha Lewin, Los Angeles, USA
Dagmar Lieblová, Prague, Czech Republic
Channa Loewenstein, Yad Hanna, Israel
Israel Loewenstein, Yad Hanna, Israel
Mirjam M., Tel Aviv, Israel
Jack Mandelbaum, Naples, FL, USA
Angela Orosz-Richt, Montreal, Canada
Hanka Paszko, Katowice, Poland
Anna Polshchikova, Yalta, Ukraine
Lidia Rydzikowska-Maksymowicz, Kraków, Poland
Adolph Smajovich-Goldenberg, Bilky, Ukraine
Olga Solomon, Haifa, Israel
Maury Špíra Lewin, Los Angeles, USA
Jiří Steiner, Prague, Czech Republic
William Wermuth, Konstanz, Germany
Barbara Wesołowska, Będzin, Poland
I give them my thanks for their trust and hospitality.
I was first inspired to investigate the lives of the children of Auschwitz by Tadeusz Szymański (Oświęcim, Poland) in 1972. I am particularly grateful to him for setting up initial contacts and providing advice and documents.
The following offered information and indispensable assistance in putting this book together:
Benton Arnovitz, Washington DC, USA / Jochen August, Berlin, Germany, and Oświęcim, Poland / Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, Oświęcim, Poland / Leah Bacon, Jerusalem, Israel / Edmund Benter, Gdynia, Poland / Jörn Böhme,