Twins Renate and René Guttmann (later Irene Hizme and René Slotkin) were born in Teplice-Šanov, Czechoslovakia, in December 1937 to German Jewish refugees. The family was living in Prague when Nazi Germany invaded and occupied the Czech lands in March 1939. Shortly afterwards, their father, Herbert, was arrested. In September 1942, the Guttmann twins and their mother, Ita, were sent to the Theresienstadt ghetto. They remained there until December 1943, when they were deported to Auschwitz. At Auschwitz, the twins and their mother were imprisoned in the Theresienstadt family camp (“Section BIIb”). Eventually, they were separated from their mother and each other. The six-year-old children were subjected to the notorious experiments run by SS doctor Josef Mengele. Renate suffered painful experimentation, and René was kept as a control.
The twins survived, but neither of their parents did. After the war, the children were taken in by different families. Eventually, they found each other by happenstance. The group Rescue Children brought Renate to the United States in 1947, where she was reunited with René in 1950.
[Photo credits: Getty Images, New York City; Yad Vashem, Jerusalem; Max-Planck-Institut für Psychiatrie (Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Psychiatrie), Historisches Archiv, Bildersammlung GDA, Munich; Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Germany; Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstandes, Vienna; Kriemhild Synder: Die Landesheilanstalt Uchtspringe und ihre Verstrickung in nationalsozialistische Verbrechen; HHStAW Abt. 461, Nr. 32442/12; Private Collection L. Orth, APG Bonn.]
Irene: We marched together with our mother and many other people. We were marched to a cattle car train.
René: When the doors were opened, I can almost feel the, the cool, the cold air coming in and the German officers shouting, "Raus, raus! Schnell, schnell!"
Irene: We were together for about four months, I believe. At which time there was an action called, and a few twins and perhaps some doctors and nurses were separated. And René and I were at that time separated from our mother. I can only recall a soul-piercing cry from our mother and I know we didn’t want to let go, but we were forcibly taken from her. And then we were also separated from each other. It was only later on that we learned that that entire lager, about 3,700 people, were all killed that night. Our mother among them.
René: When I got to the infirmary what I remember is, I always had to get undressed, and being put between two cold plates which I know were called Roentgen machines, I think that’s x-ray. And measured and weighed and poked and pushed.
Irene: I remember going to Mengele specifically. I, actually the very first time that we went to the doctor was when our mother was still with us. So we were still in the Czech Familienlager. And I remember it especially because I was only concerned that René would cry, and something terrible would happen to him. And I have recollections of blood being taken from my neck and my arms. I hate doctors. The blood from the neck was extremely painful, extremely painful. But I knew I couldn’t cry and I didn't. I never cried.
The twins survived the systematic murder of six million Jews. Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz in January 1945.
René: I also was motivated to keep myself going by the fact that I knew that she was somewhere out there. I even saw her once. I think we saw each other once through a fence, or two fences. Nothing was said, we just saw each other, and we knew we were alive and always had that feeling that she was alive, always. Never left. And everything that happened afterwards was just done basically so I could meet up with Irene.
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