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Wolfgang Munzer
ID CardAn only child, Wolfgang was born in Berlin to Jewish parents. His father was the foreign representative for a sewing notions company. The family lived in a comfortable apartment in the southwestern district of the city. Wolfgang attended secondary school there and hoped to become an electrical engineer. 1933-39: When the Nazis came to power, Wolfgang's father fled Germany because he was a socialist and was afraid he'd be arrested. Wolfgang's mother was very ill, so his grandmother took care of him until…
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Harry Toporek
ID CardHarry was one of eight children born to a large Jewish family in the Polish town of Lask, 18 miles southwest of Lodz. The Toporeks operated a tannery. Harry attended a public school in the mornings and a religious school in the afternoons. After graduating from secondary school, Harry helped his family in the tannery. 1933-39: On Friday, September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and by Sunday German planes began bombing Lask. Harry and his family couldn't fight the planes so they fled into the fields.…
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Barbara Nemeth Balint
ID CardBarbara was born to a middle-class Jewish family in southeast Hungary. Her father had a store that carried grocery and hardware items. Barbara had a sister named Margit and a brother named Desider. In 1928 Barbara married Istvan Geroe and moved to the town of Torokszentmiklos. Her son, Janos, was born there a year later. 1933-39: In 1933 Barbara divorced and returned with 3-year-old Janos to her parents' home in the town of Szentes. She helped run her parents' store, which was located on a busy inter-city…
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Margit Nemeth Fekete
ID CardMargit was born to a Jewish family in the city of Szentes. In 1919 she married and had a son, Gyorgy. When Gyorgy was still a baby, Margit divorced, but she remarried several years later. Her new husband, Vilmos Fekete, worked as a manager in a large electric company in Ujpest, a suburb of Budapest. Margit settled there and her son stayed in Szentes with his grandparents. 1933-39: Margit and her son saw each other as often as possible. Margit would travel by bus to Szentes to spend the Jewish holidays…
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Miru Alcana
ID CardMiru was the youngest of four children born to a family of Spanish-Jewish descent on the island of Rhodes. Rhodes had been occupied by Italy since 1912, so Miru learned Italian as well as French at school. At home the Alcana family conversed in Ladino, the Spanish-Jewish language. Miru attended a Jewish school, where she received instruction in Hebrew three times a week. 1933-39: Life on Miru's beautiful island was pleasant and the Alcanas were close with their neighbors. She called them Auntie Rivka and…
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Johanna Falkenstein Heumann
ID CardThe oldest of five children, Johanna was born to Jewish parents living in a small town near Cologne. Her father owned a cigar factory. After Johanna graduated from high school, she worked in a bank in Cologne. At 22 she married Carl Heumann and the couple settled in the village of Hellenthal near the Belgian border. There they owned a general store. The couple had two daughters, Margot and Lore. 1933-39: A year ago Johanna's family moved to nearby Bielefeld, and she enrolled Margot and Lore in the city's…
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Bertha Falkenstein
ID CardOne of two children, Bertha grew up in the small village of Bergheim where her father was a farmer. After she married Leo Falkenstein, the couple settled in Hochneukirch, 20 miles northwest of Cologne. There her husband was employed in his father's cigar manufacturing business, "Isak Falkenstein and Sons." Bertha and Leo had six children whom they raised in the Jewish faith. 1933-39: In 1937 Bertha's daughter Johanna brought her two girls to live briefly with them in Hochneukirch. Johanna's husband, Carl,…
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Edit Gruenberger
ID CardEdit was the second of three children born to Hungarian-speaking Jewish parents in the city of Kosice in the southeastern part of Czechoslovakia known as Slovakia. She grew up a Czechoslovak citizen. As a young girl, she attended a Jewish elementary school. Her father was a tailor whose workshop was in the Gruenbergers' apartment. 1933-39: After Edit finished elementary school, she entered secondary school. The language of instruction was Slovak and Jews faced no discrimination until November 1938 when…
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Peter Winternitz
ID CardPeter was the oldest of two children born to a Jewish family in the Czechoslovakian capital of Prague, a city with a Jewish community that dated back to the eleventh century. His family lived on Karlova Street in the city's Karlin district. Peter's father owned a wholesale business that sold floor coverings. 1933-39: As a boy, Peter was active in a Zionist sports organization, Maccabi Ha-Zair. The group also helped prepare youth to immigrate to Palestine [Aliyah Bet] by training them in agricultural work.…
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Betje Jakobs
ID CardBetje and her sister Saartje were born to Jewish parents in the town of Zwolle in the Netherlands' north central province of Overijssel. Betje was known affectionately as "Bep" to her friends. The Jakobs family owned a successful sporting goods store. 1933-39: As a young girl, Betje enjoyed playing the piano, knitting and tennis. At age 16, while still in secondary school, she began to date Maurits Wijnberg, a boy two years her senior, whose family owned Zwolle's Hotel Wijnberg. 1940-42: The Germans…
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Josef Deutsch
ID CardJosef was born to Yiddish-speaking, religious Jewish parents in the town of Viseu de Sus in Transylvania, a region of Romania that belonged to Hungary until 1918. In 1890 he married Emma Geisler from the nearby town of Bistrita. The couple had four children and after 1910 the family lived at #4 Hid Street in Viseu de Sus. Josef was a merchant who owned a stall in Viseu de Sus's public market. 1933-39: By 1939 two of Josef's grown sons had moved to the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Josef and his wife…
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Chava Lea Deutsch
ID CardChava Lea was born Emma Geisler to Yiddish-speaking, religious Jewish parents. The Deutsch family lived in the village of Budacu de Sus in Transylvania, a region of Romania that belonged to Hungary until 1918. She grew up in the town of Bistrita. In 1890 she married Josef Deutsch, a salesman from the town of Viseu de Sus, where the couple moved in 1910. Chava and Josef raised four children. 1933-39: By 1939 two of Chava Lea's grown sons had moved to the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Chava Lea and her…
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Laszlo Schwed
ID CardLaszlo was raised by Hungarian-speaking Jewish parents in the town of Kiskunfelegyhaza in southeastern Hungary. He opened a business selling goose meat, feathers, down and quilts. In 1931 he married Anna Mahrer, from Budapest, and they had a daughter in January 1932. 1933-39: Laszlo and Anna had a second child, a son. They raised their two children in a comfortable home. Kiskunfelegyhaza was located in a rural part of Hungary. In May 1939, the Hungarian government enacted a law that defined Jews as alien…
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Sara Rachela Plagier
ArticleChildren's diaries bear witness to some of the most heartbreaking events of the Holocaust. Learn about the diary and experiences of Sara Rachela Plagier.
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Barbara Marton
ID CardThe Martons were one of 35 Jewish families in the small northern Transylvanian town of Beliu. Barbara's father owned a grocery, and her mother helped out in the store. The Martons lived in a comfortable home with a flower garden, and enjoyed friendly relations with the townspeople. As a child, Barbara learned Hebrew on Sunday mornings at the home of Beliu's rabbi. 1933-39: Barbara's father's business began to fall off when another grocery opened nearby in Beliu. By 1937 business was so bad that they sold…
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Maurits Wijnberg
ID CardMaurits was one of four children born to religious Jewish parents living in the town of Leek. When he was 12, the Wijnbergs moved to the town of Zwolle, where they ran a kosher hotel. That same year, Maurits became ill with meningitis. After he recovered, he worked hard to compensate for missed school and became an exceptional student. 1933-39: Along with his younger sister, Maurits was active in the local Zionist organization. One of the group's activities was raising money for Palestine [Yishuv]. Every…
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Marthijn Wijnberg
ID CardWhen Marthijn was 10, his religious Jewish family moved from Groningen to the town of Zwolle. There, his parents ran the only kosher hotel in the region. The Wijnbergs had two other sons and a daughter. All of the children attended Dutch public schools, and four afternoons a week they also went to religious school to study Jewish history, Hebrew and the Bible. 1933-39: Marthijn could play almost any instrument, including piano, saxophone and accordion. Sometimes each of his brothers would pick up an…
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Alice Lok
ID CardAlice grew up in a Jewish family in Sarvar, Hungary, near the Austrian border. She had two younger brothers and an older sister. Her father worked for the family's carpet weaving and import/export business and was often away, traveling to their Budapest office. Alice's grandfather was a community leader and president of one of Sarvar's synagogues. 1933-39: Alice had a very special relationship with her grandfather. She admired him. People knew that they could always come to him for help of any kind. He…
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Jeno Muhlrad
ID CardJeno was the youngest of five children born to Jewish parents living in a suburb of Budapest. His father was a wholesale merchant who sold beer to restaurants and stores. After receiving a university diploma, Jeno became a pharmacist. He and his wife, Aranka, and their two children, Eva and Andras, shared a large old house in Ujpest with Jeno's father and other members of the extended family. 1933-39: Jeno's friends and family have helped him raise the large amount of money he needs to lease his own…
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Malvin Katz Fried
ID CardMalvin and her eight brothers and sisters were born to religious Jewish parents in the small town of Buj in northeastern Hungary. The family later moved to the village of Zalkod, where Malvin's father ran a general store. The Katz family lived in a sprawling farmhouse with a large garden and fruit orchards. Malvin married Sandor Fried, the brother of her sister Sadie's husband, Hermon. 1933-39: Malvin's oldest sister, Sadie, who immigrated to the United States many years ago, has come home for a visit.…
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Lidia Lebowitz
ID CardThe younger of two sisters, Lidia was born to Jewish parents living in Sarospatak, a small town in northeastern Hungary. Lidia's parents owned a successful dry goods business. At the time, ready-made clothes were still rare in the countryside. Townspeople and local farmers would purchase fabric at the Lebowitz store and then take it to their tailor or seamstress to be sewn into clothes. 1933-39: Lidia was 2 when her Aunt Sadie, who had immigrated to the United States many years earlier, came to visit…
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Wilek Loew
ID CardWilek was the son of Jewish parents living in Lvov, a large city in southeastern Poland. His family owned and operated a honeywine winery. Although they lived amongst Poles and Ukrainians, Wilek's family spoke Hebrew, German and Polish at home and were among Lvov's Jewish intelligentsia. When Wilek was 4, his father died of a heart attack. 1933-39: Jews were often discriminated against in Poland. They found it hard to gain access to schools and jobs. In 1939 Wilek managed to pass the entrance exam and…
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Yennj Baehr
ID CardYennj and her husband Heinrich were two of a few Jewish residents in Ruchheim, a small town in the Rhine River valley. Yennj helped Heinrich run their dry goods store that was on the first floor of their house. In the summer she liked working in the garden out back. Their son, Kurt, had immigrated to America after World War I. Ida, their daughter, helped them in the store until she married. 1933-39: The Nazis have come to power, and many Jews have decided to leave Germany. Yennj and Heinrich's niece,…
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Ida Baehr Lang
ID CardIda was born to Jewish parents who owned a dry goods store in a small town in the Rhine River valley. As a teenager, Ida loved to bicycle with her cousin, Luise, in the scenic valley. After graduating from school, Ida helped her parents run the store. When she was in her early twenties, she married Fritz Lang, who owned a dry goods store in nearby Lambsheim, where they lived. 1933-39: Ida and Fritz have hired a housekeeper to help take care of their new baby girl, Freya, while Ida works in the store. More…
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Martin Hans Munzer
ID CardHans was born to Jewish parents in a town in northwestern Germany. The family moved to Berlin when Hans' father obtained a post there as a history teacher in a secondary school. After graduating from university, Hans married and settled with his wife Margaret in an apartment in Berlin. In 1920 their child Wolfgang was born. Hans worked as foreign representative for a sewing notions company. 1933-39: When the Nazis won the election a few weeks ago, Hans was afraid for people like himself who are active…
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Chaje Isakovic Adler
ID CardThe youngest of 11 children, Chaje was raised by religious, Yiddish-speaking Jewish parents in a village in Czechoslovakia's easternmost province. At the age of 12, she was apprenticed to a men's tailor. In the 1920s she married Jermie Adler from Selo-Solotvina. Together, they moved to Liege, Belgium, where they raised three daughters and she continued to work as a tailor. 1933-39: Chaje's customers called her the "Polish tailor." Raising her children as Jews in the largely Catholic city of Liege did not…
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Lajos Nagy
ID CardThe Nagys were one of several Jewish families in Zagyvapalfalva, a town 45 miles from Budapest. They owned a general store that served the many coal miners in the mountain valley town. As a young man, Lajos served with the Hungarian army in World War I. He then studied in Budapest to be a diplomat, but a 1920 law restricting the number of Jews in certain professions kept him from pursuing his career. 1933-39: Lajos's father passed away. Lajos took over the general store in Zagypalfalva with his bride,…
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Eszter Mendel Braun
ID CardEszter was one of 11 children born to religious Jewish parents in the small town of Hidegkut in eastern Hungary. During World War I her family became refugees and only three of her brothers and sisters survived the war. After the war, she married Jeno Braun, a refugee from the town of Sighet. They settled in the town of Cristuru-Secuiesc in Romania and had six children. 1933-39: Since Eszter could speak many languages, including Hungarian, Yiddish, Romanian, Italian, French, and Hebrew, she felt at home…
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Jeno Gabor Braun
ID CardThe son of a rabbi, Jeno was raised in the town of Sighet in Transylvania. The region was multi-ethnic, and Jeno grew up in a family that knew Yiddish, Hungarian, Romanian, German and Hebrew. During World War I, when Sighet was near the front, Jeno's family fled to Hungary. There Jeno met Eszter Mendel, whom he married after the war. The couple settled in the town of Cristuru-Secuiesc in Romania. 1933-39: As a jeweler, Jeno is one of only two watchmakers in Cristuru-Secuiesc; the other is a German who…
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Jakab Katz
ID CardJakab, a religious Jew, was the father of eight children. In the early 1900s he sailed to America, paying his way by shoveling coal on the ship. In New York he earned enough money to help two of his daughters immigrate. Returning to Buj, he eventually moved his family to Zalkod, a small town in northeastern Hungary. There, helped by his wife, Terez, and his son, Miklos, he ran a store and a farm. 1933-39: Jakab's daughter, Sadie, and her two children, Lillian and Arthur, are visiting from America. The…
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Terez Spitz Katz
ID CardA religious Jewish mother of nine, Terez settled with her husband, Jakab, and children in Zalkod, a small town in northeastern Hungary. Jakab ran a general store. Terez tended their sprawling farmhouse. She baked black bread in their wood-burning stove and canned the peaches and plums she gathered with her children and grandchildren from the family orchards. 1933-39: Terez's oldest daughter, Sadie, is visiting from America. Sadie comes with her parents every Friday when they take the horse-drawn wagon to…
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Olga Gelb
ID CardOlga was born to religious Jewish parents in a small city in Ruthenia. The country's easternmost province, Ruthenia had been ruled by Hungary until 1918. One of eight children, Olga grew up in a prosperous home in which both Yiddish and Hungarian were spoken. Her father worked as a wholesale leather merchant. Olga attended both public school and a Hebrew girls' school. 1933-39: Under Czech rule Olga could be religious and not face discrimination at school. Her parents were pleased when Ruthenia became a…
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Maria Terez Halpert Katz
ID CardAlso known by her Yiddish name, Tobe, Terez was raised in a religious Jewish family. Her father and two brothers were rabbis. Though Terez was a promising student, she didn't pursue an advanced education because her traditional family wanted her to marry. So Terez married Menyhert Katz and moved to the town of Kisvarda [in Hungary]. There, she raised five daughters and one son; two other sons died. 1933-39: Terez's twin sons died when they were 8 months old, and she was convinced that their death was a…
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Edek Blonder
ID CardThe Blonder family lived in a two-room apartment in the back of a store. Edek was the third of eight children. His father eked out a meager living by tutoring students in Jewish subjects, and beginning in 1930 he worked distributing food vouchers to the poor. 1933-39: After graduating from secondary school, Edek was invited to play soccer professionally on the local Club Maccabi team, which was part of a Jewish soccer league. Club Maccabi arranged for him to attend trade school to learn cabinet making at…
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Studio portrait of Obersturmführer Karl Höcker
PhotoObersturmführer Karl Höcker, June 21, 1944. Karl Höcker, adjutant to the commandant of Auschwitz, kept a photograph album. The album includes both documentation of official visits and ceremonies at Auschwitz as well as more personal photographs depicting the many social activities that he and other members of the Auschwitz camp staff enjoyed. These rare images show Nazis singing, hunting, and even trimming a Christmas tree. They provide a chilling contrast to the photographs of…
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Solahütte, an SS retreat
PhotoView of Solahütte, an SS retreat near Auschwitz. From Karl Höcker's photograph album, which includes both documentation of official visits and ceremonies at Auschwitz as well as more personal photographs depicting the many social activities that he and other members of the Auschwitz camp staff enjoyed. These rare images show Nazis singing, hunting, and even trimming a Christmas tree. They provide a chilling contrast to the photographs of thousands of Hungarian Jews deported to Auschwitz at the…
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The cover of Karl Höcker's photograph album
PhotoKarl Höcker's photograph album includes both documentation of official visits and ceremonies at Auschwitz as well as more personal photographs depicting the many social activities that he and other members of the Auschwitz camp staff enjoyed.
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Richard Baer at a ceremony
PhotoSeptember 1, 1944, Richard Baer ceremonially accepts a copy of the construction plans from the Chief of the Central Construction Directorate of the Waffen SS, SS-Sturmbannführer Karl Bischoff, celebrating the opening of an SS military hospital (SS-Lazarette). Baer was the last commandant of the Auschwitz camp. From Karl Höcker's photograph album, which includes both documentation of official visits and ceremonies at Auschwitz as well as more personal photographs depicting the many social…
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Karl Höcker
PhotoPhotograph of Karl Höcker. He is standing in front of an air raid shelter. From Karl Höcker's photograph album, which includes both documentation of official visits and ceremonies at Auschwitz as well as more personal photographs depicting the many social activities that he and other members of the Auschwitz camp staff enjoyed. These rare images show Nazis singing, hunting, and even trimming a Christmas tree. They provide a chilling contrast to the photographs of thousands of Hungarian Jews…
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Deportation from Sighet
Media EssayIn May 1944, the entire Jewish population of Sighet was deported to Auschwitz. Most individuals were gassed upon arrival.
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Forced labor in the Siemens factory
PhotoPrisoners at forced labor in the Siemens factory. Auschwitz camp, Poland, 1940–44.
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Funeral of SS officers
PhotoScene during the funeral of SS officers killed in the December 26, 1944, Allied bombing of Auschwitz.
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Rail cars containing confiscated belongings to be shipped to Germany.
PhotoRail cars discovered by Soviet forces and containing possessions taken from deportees. This abandoned train was on the way to Germany loaded with personal effects (in this case, pillows) taken from Auschwitz victims. Auschwitz, Poland, after January 27, 1945.
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Richard Baer, Karl Höcker, and Dr. Enno Lolling
PhotoRichard Baer and Karl Höcker look over a document with SS-Standartenführer Dr. Enno Lolling, the director of the Office for Sanitation and Hygiene in the Inspectorate of Concentration Camps. From left to right: Lolling, Baer, Höcker. From Karl Höcker's photograph album, which includes both documentation of official visits and ceremonies at Auschwitz as well as more personal photographs depicting the many social activities that he and other members of the Auschwitz camp staff enjoyed.…
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Joseph Gani: Maps
Media EssayBorn to a Jewish family in Preveza, Joseph Gani was endangered by the German occupation of Greece. In March 1944, the Nazis deported the Jews of Preveza to Auschwitz. Joseph was killed several months later, at the age of 18. These maps add geograp...
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Moise Gani: Maps
Media EssayBorn to a Jewish family in Preveza, Moise Gani was endangered by the German occupation of Greece. In March 1944, the Nazis deported the Jews of Preveza to Auschwitz. Albert was killed several months later, at the ag...
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Albert Gani: Maps
Media EssayBorn to a Jewish family in Preveza, Albert Gani was endangered by the German occupation of Greece. In March 1944, the Nazis deported the Jews of Preveza to Auschwitz. Albert was killed several months later, at the age...
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Nazi physician Carl Clauberg (left)
PhotoNazi physician Carl Clauberg (at left), who performed medical experiments on prisoners in Block 10 of the Auschwitz camp. Poland, between 1941 and 1944.
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Soviet soldiers inspect a box containing poison
PhotoSoviet soldiers inspect a box containing poison used in medical experiments. Auschwitz, Poland, after January 27, 1945.
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Siegfried Wohlfarth: Maps
Media EssaySiegfried Wohlfarth was raised in a Jewish family in Frankfurt, Germany. Siegfried and his wife moved to Amsterdam after the Nazi rise to power in 1933, but Germany occupied the Netherlands seven years later. Siegfried was deported to Auschwitz in...