In March 1939, when Hana Müller (later Bruml) was 16 years old, Nazi Germany occupied her hometown of Prague, Czechoslovakia. Like other Czech Jews, Hana experienced persecution and discrimination under Nazi rule. In August 1942, she was sent to the Theresienstadt ghetto, where she worked as a nurse. More than two years later, in October 1944, German authorities deported Hana to Auschwitz-Birkenau. At Auschwitz, she was selected for forced labor. After a few weeks, she was sent to Sackisch, a subcamp of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp. At Sackisch, Hana was forced to work in a German factory making airplane parts for the Nazi German war effort. She was liberated in May 1945.
Edelstein, who was a Ju...Judenaeltester [Elder of the Jews], was a wonderful man and he did what he could. But he himself was deported. And we had other Judenaeltester which made things worse. But nevertheless, there was this tremendous, vibrating cultural life. I remember seeing "Fledermaus" in um...a whole production of "Fledermaus." Uh I remember going to a poem reading. There were philosophical debates. There were concerts. Uh there was this need to live very intensively, and I think this was about the essence of Theresienstadt. You had these few years, so you have to live them so intensively. You had to use every minute you had.
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