Hedy
Hirsch (Engel)
Holocaust-Survivor, * 1927 in Trnava,
Czechoslovakia
H. was born to a religious family. With the outbreak of WWII and the German invasion, Jews began experiencing increasing
antisemitism. H.’s father’s store was expropriated, and on Passover 1942, the Jews were taken from their
homes. H. and her mother escaped to a shop owned by a Slovak acquaintance, who agreed to hide them in his home. Her father was arrested and sent to Auschwitz. The next day, the women escaped to Nitra, and from there they attempted to reach the Hungarian border. They were arrested by Slovakian guards, but they managed to escape and cross the
border. H. and her mother reunited with her older sister, Edith, and they traveled together to Budapest using forged papers. Every night they slept in a different location: abandoned buildings, outside, and in cemeteries. They acquired the instincts of hunted animals, their senses honed by living in constant danger. They lived like this for two years.
In 1944, H. and her mother tried to re-enter Slovakia, but they were arrested and put on a train to Auschwitz with no food or water. The journey took three days. On arrival, they managed to pass the selection and were sent to Lager C, where they experienced tremendous starvation, frequent selections and labor transports.
In October, 17-year-old H. was selected for transport to a labor camp in Altenberg, Germany.
H. asked the woman in charge of the block, with whom she had become friends, to include her mother on the list. The two were sent to work in an arms factory, where they labored for 12 hours a day. They remained there until April 1945. As the Allies approached, the factory workers were sent on a death march, without any food. On the night of 12 April, they reached Waldenberg, where they were liberated by the
Americans. H., her mother and her sister returned to Czechoslovakia. In 1949,
H. and her mother came to Israel and settled in Jerusalem. H. is married and works as an ECG
technician. H. has four children and several grandchildren.
Anschrift
von / Address of H.:
Werke von / Works of H.:
Literatur über
/ Writings concerning H.:
Literatur
im Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek von und über
/
Writings
in the catalogue of Deutsche Nationalbibliothek of and about
: Hedy Hirsch
Letzte Änderung / Last update: 21.06.2008
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