Lore Heumann

Lore was born to Jewish parents, Carl and Johanna (née Falkenstein) Heumann, in Hellenthal, a German village. Her older sister, Margot, was born in 1928. The Heumanns lived above their general store. Lore’s paternal grandfather, Samuel, was a cattle dealer and lived across the street from them. When Lore was a child, her family moved to the German city of Lippstadt. They often visited their large extended family.

1933-39: The family’s life changed significantly in 1933 after the Nazis came to power in Germany. The Nazis began implementing antisemitic policies. Lore’s father struggled to find employment. In the late 1930s, Lore and her family moved again, this time to the nearby city of Bielefeld. There, she and Margot attended a public school until they were expelled for being Jewish. They then attended a Jewish school.

1940-1944: After World War II began in September 1939, life became increasingly difficult for the Heumanns and other German Jews. Beginning in September 1941, German Jews had to wear a yellow Star of David badge on their clothes, marking them as Jewish. 

In June 1943, twelve-year-old Lore and her family were deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto. There, they reunited with Lore’s maternal grandmother, Bertha Falkenstein, who had been deported to the ghetto almost a year earlier. Lore learned that their grandfather Leo had died in the ghetto. In Theresienstadt, Lore and Margot lived in a youth home in the ghetto with other girls.

In May 1944, German authorities deported Lore and her family to Auschwitz. At first, they were housed in the “Czech family camp” (section BIIb) of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Prisoners in the section had some privileges, such as wearing civilian clothes instead of camp uniforms. But, they still suffered from starvation and lacked proper shelter or sanitation. After about six weeks, Margot was selected for forced labor and sent to another camp. Lore remained behind with her parents. She did not survive the Holocaust.