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Anschluss of Austria
Life for Jews in Hungary wasn't good even before the Nazis invaded. After the Anschluss of Austria in March, discriminatory laws against jews were put in action. Jews were slowly stripped of their civil and Human rights. Primary Source- The number of coffeehouses and restaurants that would not serve Jews grew from day to day. All of the public baths and swimming pools were closed to Jews.Park benches all over the city had the words "Juden verboten" stenciled on them. -
Start of the War
Judy's father owned a scrap-iron yard. At the start of the war the authorities took away her fathers business license because metal was considered a war material which jews were no longer permitted to handle. Judy's family of nine had to survive on no income but they were surviving none the less Primary Source- The picture on the left is an American war poster that is discouraging the Germans from winning the war. Nazi soldiers in helmets hold sheet music and sing in German. -
The Holocaust Begins in Hungary
Judy was fifteen and the youngest child out of seven in her orthodox Jewish family. Her family lived in Debrecen,Hungary when the Holocaust began. The German Nazis occupied the country and joined forces with their Hungarian counterparts. Judy was forced to wear a yellow star on the left side of her chest which told other people she was Jewish. Primary Source- Picture to the left
Jews were forced to wear a star on the left side of their chests so the public knew they were Jewish. -
Ghettos were formed in Debrecen
Judy and her family lived in the part of the city that became the ghetto. Her whole family moved into three dwellings. It was so overcrowded that at night people would fit wall to wall. Jews were only allowed to leave the ghetto for two hours every day to get grocerys. There was a lack of medicine, food, and privacy. Primary Source- Nanny Lewin from Germany describes her time in a Ghetto . "We've been assigned a room on the second floor of a house that is dirty, crowded and infested with lice" -
Deportation Begins
Judy and her family were deported in a cattle car with 78 people for four days. They arrived at a death camp called Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland. Upon arrival, Judy was instantly seperated from her father and her mother who she never saw again. Judy was lucky enough to have her three older sisters with her. The living conditions at the camp were horrible. There was no running water and corpses were everywhere for people to see. Primary Source- http://www.youtube.com/watch? -
Judy is Seperated from her Sisters
Judy and her three sisters were seperated in two stages.Klari and Evi were taken from Birkenau. Then later Judy was selected and seperated fom her last sister Erzsebet. Her sisters all ended up in Stutth concentration camp but Judy did not. Primary Source- Total loss of family was not uncommon.
"Sometimes we would doze; once I woke to find Mother had vanished." Shulamit never saw her mother again or the rest of her family. -
Sondercommando uprising
The Sondercommandos at Auschwitz were a group of Jewish prisoners selected from their youth and good health .The Sondercommandos, after learning they were going to be gassed,rebelled. They attacked the SS guards with stones, axes, hammers, and other tools.They also made a small bomb with which they blew up a crematorium. Primary Source-http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/sonderevolt.html A Holocaust survivor Isreal Gutman remembers the Sonderkommando revolt in Auschwitz -Birkenau. -
Judy is Moved to Bergen Belsen
Judy was supposed to be gassed, but thanks to the members of the Sondercommando uprising in Auschwitz who destroyed a crematorium, she was not. Instead she was sent to a camp called Bergen Belsen located in Germany. At first it was better then Auschwitz but a large scale of starvation quickly set in. Primary Source- "The lack of water was so severe that prisoners in Bergen-Belsen died of thirst. Others went mad with hunger and thirst and turned to cannibalism in their despair." - A survivor -
Judy is moved to Aschersleben
Judy is taken from Bergen Belsen to Aschersleben to work in a Junkers airplane factory. She was forced to work 12 hours of labor a day. The conditions were alot nicer then the previous camps. There was heating, single beds, and more food which was still not a healthy amount. In April, The American Air forces bombed the factory. Primary Source- The picture to the left shows a nearby aircraft factory called Fieseler after it was bombed by American Planes -
The March Begins
After the airplane factory was bombed, Judy and the rest of her camp were ordered to march. They marched for 12 days straight. Judy was so hungry that she raided garbage cans at times. Those who couldn't keep up were left on the side of the road to die. Primary Source- To the left is a picture of prisoners on a death march from the Dachau concentration camp in Gruenwald, Germany. Thousands of people were killed after and during these marches. -
Liberation for Judy
On May 5, the American Army liberated the 200 out of 500 remaining marchers in a small town called Duben. Judy had survived the Holocaust and was only 16 years of age. Judy was reunited with her two sisters Sari and Edith and the youngest of her three brothers, Leslie. Primary Source- "Some of these people were in the hell hole of Dachau for years. If I spend ten years in the Army during war I will never go through what those people go through. "- written by a liberation officer -
Judy's New Life
Judy eventually moved to Canada in 1948 and became a needle trade worker. She went back to school and became a good Canadian citizen. She married a Canadian man and had a duaghter and a son. Primary Source-
Do I want to remember this world upside down?
Where the departed are blessed with an instant death.
While the living condemned to a short wretched life,
And a long tortuous journey into unnamed place,
Converting Living Souls, into ashes and gas.
No. I Have to Remember and Never Forget
