H. was an outstanding athlete and a member of the Young Maccabi movement, and when in 1935 Germany enacted the race laws, he emigrated  from Germany to Prague in Czechoslovakia. In December 1941, he was sent to Theresienstadt. There he was a beloved sport and fitness teacher. In August 1943, a transport arrived from Bialystok, counting more than 1.200 children and 53 accompanying persons. H. got in contact with them.

On September 6, 1943, 7,005 women and children were taken from Theresienstadt and sent to Auschwitz. Leading the group were Dr. Leo Yanovitz, Franz Kafka's sister Ottla, and H. At their arrival, the group were registrated without selection, they were not forced to wear prisoner's uniforms with blue stripes and were transferred to an empty camp known as the families camp BIIb. In December 1943, a new transport arrived with 5000 persons. The family camp existed 10 months.

H. managed to set up a school for the children, and for that purpose received a building (Block 31) adjacent to the clinic. A group of counselors was mobilized to work with 500 children aged 8-14. The children and the counselors decorated the building, painted the walls with scenic panoramas, Eskimos and Indians. There were games, books were read and performances arranged, including "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" on Christmas, for which 12-year-old Harry Krauss built a set. On March 6, 1944, H. was transferred to another camp (Heydebreck near Cosel in Upper Silesia). Later on it was discovered that he committed suicide by swallowing poison. 

Among the children or adolescents who survived together with their mother, were Dina Babbett , Ruth Klüger , Zuzana Ruzickova .

Letzte Änderung / Last update: 17.07.2013 

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