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Deportation of Hungarian Jews
Timeline EventMay 15-July 9, 1944. On this date, Hungarian officials (under guidance from the German SS) deported some 440,000 Hungarian Jews.
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Chaim Engel describes arrival in Sobibor
Oral HistoryIn 1939, as Chaim's tour in the Polish army was nearing its scheduled end, Germany invaded Poland. The Germans captured Chaim and sent him to Germany for forced labor. As a Jewish prisoner of war, Chaim later was returned to Poland. Ultimately, he was deported to the Sobibor camp, where the rest of his family died. In the 1943 Sobibor uprising, Chaim killed a guard. He escaped with his girlfriend, Selma, whom he later married. A farmer hid them until liberation by Soviet forces in June 1944.
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Gusen
ArticleIn 1940, the Nazis established Gusen concentration camp. Learn more about camp conditions, forced labor, and liberation.
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Operation Reinhard (Einsatz Reinhard)
ArticleNazi Germany established the killing centers of Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka as part of “Operation Reinhard,” the plan to murder all Jews in the General Government.
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Josef Mengele
ArticleProminent SS physician Josef Mengele, called the "angel of death" by his victims, conducted inhumane medical experiments on prisoners in the Auschwitz camp.
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1942: Key Dates
ArticleExplore a timeline of key events during 1942 in the history of Nazi Germany, World War II, and the Holocaust.
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Esther Raab describes planning for the uprising in Sobibor
Oral HistoryEsther was born to a middle-class Jewish family in Chelm, Poland. In December 1942, she was deported from a work camp to the Sobibor killing center in occupied Poland. Upon arrival at Sobibor, Esther was selected to work in a sorting shed. She sorted clothing and the possessions of the people killed at the camp. During the summer and fall of 1943, Esther was among a group of prisoners in the Sobibor camp who planned an uprising and escape. Leon Feldhendler and Aleksandr (Sasha) Pechersky were the leaders…
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Elie Wiesel
ArticleElie Wiesel was a human rights activist, author, and teacher who reflected on his experience during the Holocaust in more than 40 books. Learn more.
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John Demjanjuk: Prosecution of A Nazi Collaborator
ArticleJohn Demjanjuk, initially convicted as “Ivan the Terrible,” was tried for war crimes committed as a collaborator of the Nazi regime during the Holocaust.
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Axis Invasion of Yugoslavia
ArticleThe Axis powers invaded Yugoslavia on April 6, 1941. Learn about the Axis invasion and partition, collaboration, and the fate of Jewish people living in Yugoslavia.
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Ida Edelstein
ID CardIda, born Ida Kohn, was the oldest of four children born to a Jewish family in the village of Hostoun, near Prague. Her father owned a grocery store in the village, and also recorded the birth, death and marriage certificates in the Jewish community. In 1912 Ida married Josef Edelstein and they moved to Vienna. By 1920 the couple had a son, Wilhelm, and a daughter, Alice. 1933-39: In March 1938 the Germans annexed Austria. In the next few weeks, Ida, along with other Jews, was forced to scrub sidewalks.…
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Marta Herman
ID CardThe younger of two daughters, Marta was raised by Hungarian-speaking Jewish parents in Kosice, a city in Slovakia. Marta attended a Jewish elementary school. Her father ran a small grocery store. 1933-39: After Marta finished elementary school, she began secondary school. The language of instruction was Slovak and Jews faced no discrimination until November 1938 when Hungarian troops marched into southern Slovakia. With Germany's blessing, Kosice became part of Hungary and was renamed Kassa. Their new…
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Mrs. Zinger's recipe for mocha cake
DocumentIlona Kellner and her family lived in Pelsöc, which became part of Hungary before World War II. Following the German occupation of Hungary, Ilona, her sister Vera, and her parents Karoly and Jolan were forced into a ghetto in another area of the town. In mid-June, the family was deported to the Auschwitz camp in German-occupied Poland. Ilona's parents were killed in the gas chambers at Birkenau. In early August, Ilona and her sister were deported to Hessisch Lichtenau, a subcamp of the Buchenwald…
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Mariska's recipe for hazelnut cake
DocumentIlona Kellner and her family lived in Pelsöc, which became part of Hungary before World War II. Following the German occupation of Hungary, Ilona, her sister Vera, and her parents Karoly and Jolan were forced into a ghetto in another area of the town. In mid-June, the family was deported to the Auschwitz camp in German-occupied Poland. Ilona's parents were killed in the gas chambers at Birkenau. In early August, Ilona and her sister were deported to Hessisch Lichtenau, a subcamp of the Buchenwald…
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Ilona Kellner's recipe for various strudel fillings
DocumentIlona Kellner and her family lived in Pelsöc, which became part of Hungary before World War II. Following the German occupation of Hungary, Ilona, her sister Vera, and her parents Karoly and Jolan were forced into a ghetto in another area of the town. In mid-June, the family was deported to the Auschwitz camp in German-occupied Poland. Ilona's parents were killed in the gas chambers at Birkenau. In early August, Ilona and her sister were deported to Hessisch Lichtenau, a subcamp of…
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Ilona Kellner's recipe for butter scones with jam
DocumentIlona Kellner and her family lived in Pelsöc, which became part of Hungary before World War II. Following the German occupation of Hungary, Ilona, her sister Vera, and her parents Karoly and Jolan were forced into a ghetto in another area of the town. In mid-June, the family was deported to the Auschwitz camp in German-occupied Poland. Ilona's parents were killed in the gas chambers at Birkenau. In early August, Ilona and her sister were deported to Hessisch Lichtenau, a subcamp of the Buchenwald…
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Alice Lok Cahana describes arrival at Bergen-Belsen
Oral HistoryGermany occupied Hungary in 1944. Alice was deported to Auschwitz in the same year. At one time she was selected for the gas chamber, but survived because of a malfunction. As Allied forces approached the camp, Alice and other inmates were evacuated to the Guben labor camp. Alice, her sister, and another girl escaped during a forced march from the camp but were found and sent on to Bergen-Belsen. Alice's sister was taken to a Red Cross hospital, but Alice never saw her again. After the war, Alice…
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Krakow Ghetto: Key Dates
ArticleExplore a timeline of key events during the history of the Krakow ghetto in German-occupied Poland.
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Nazi Propaganda
ArticleNazi propaganda had a key role in the persecution of Jews. Learn more about how Hitler and the Nazi Party used propaganda to facilitate war and genocide.
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Lublin/Majdanek Concentration Camp: Administration
ArticleIn 1940, the Nazis established Lublin (Majdanek) concentration camp in Lublin, Poland. Learn more about camp administration.
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Liberation
ArticleThe first major Nazi camp was liberated by Allied troops in July, 1944. Learn more about liberation of camps towards the end of World War II.
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Prisoners of the Camps
ArticleJews were the main targets of Nazi genocide. Learn about other individuals from a broad range of backgrounds who were imprisoned in the Nazi camp system.
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Final Solutions: Murderous Racial Hygiene, 1939–1945
ArticleBased on their ideas about race, the Nazis mass murdered people with disabilities; people perceived as threats in occupied Poland; and Jewish people. Learn more.
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View of the Sobibor killing center
PhotoRare image of the Sobibor killing center, taken from an album of photos belonging to Sobibor deputy camp commandant Johann Niemann.
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Soviet Forces Liberate Auschwitz
Timeline EventJanuary 27, 1945. On this date, the Soviet army liberated approximately 7,000 prisoners in Auschwitz, Birkenau, and Monowitz.
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Collections Highlight: Auschwitz Through the Lens of the SS
ArticleKarl Höcker created a personal album of photographs chronicling SS officers’ activities at Auschwitz. Learn about this chilling collection.
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Chil Meyer Rajchman
ID CardChil was one of six children born to a Jewish family in the industrial city of Lodz. His mother died before World War II, leaving his father to raise the family. Chil's father could not sustain the family financially, so Chil, as the eldest male child, went to work to help support his brothers and sisters. 1933-39: On September 1, 1939, the Germans invaded Poland. Chil fled Lodz with his younger sister to Pruszkow, a small town 10 miles southwest of Warsaw, where there were fewer restrictions on Jews.…
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The Treatment of Soviet POWs: Starvation, Disease, and Shootings, June 1941–January 1942
ArticleThe Nazi treatment of Soviet prisoners of war (POWs) was determined by Nazi ideology. Cruel conditions included starvation, no medical care, and death.
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SS and the Holocaust
ArticleLearn more about the SS and the organization’s involvement in perpetrating the Holocaust.
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Blechhammer
ArticleThe Germans established the Blechhammer camp as a subcamp of Auschwitz in April 1941. Learn about the camp's history and conditions there.
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Freiberg
ArticleLearn about the Freiburg subcamp of Flossenbürg, including its establishment, prisoner population, and conditions there.
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1943: Key Dates
ArticleExplore a timeline of key events during 1943 in the history of Nazi Germany, World War II, and the Holocaust.
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Benno Müller-Hill, Antje Kosemund, Paul Eggert, and Elvira Manthey describe the Euthanasia Program
Oral HistoryBenno Müller-Hill, professor of genetics at the University of Cologne and the author of Murderous Science, describes the Nazi "Euthanasia" Program, with oral history excerpts from Antje Kosemund, Paul Eggert, and Elvira Manthey. Antje Kosemund had a disabled younger sister who was admitted to Alsterdorf Institute, Hamburg, December 1933, at the age of three and was subsequently killed in 1944. Paul Eggert was a resident of the orphanage section of the Dortmund-Applerbeck institution from 1942-43 where he…
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Introduction to the Holocaust
ArticleLearn about the Holocaust, the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.
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Martin Weiss
ID CardMartin was one of nine children born to orthodox Jewish parents in Veľká Poľana, a rural village in the Carpathian Mountains. His father owned a farm and a meat business, and his mother attended to the children and the home. Everyone in the family helped take care of the horses and cows. 1933–39: Martin attended the village's Czechoslovak schools, which were quite progressive. Like many of the other children, he looked forward to leaving the provincial life in Veľká Poľana. In 1938–1939, his…
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Rena Gani
ID CardRena and her family were Romaniot Jews, a group that had lived in Greek cities and the Balkans for more than 1,100 years. The town of Preveza, located on the Ionian seashore, had 300 Jews. Rena's father had a small textile shop and her mother stayed at home to care for Rena, her sister and her three brothers. 1933-39: When Rena's family moved to the nearby town of Ioannina, she completed Jewish primary school there. The school was sponsored by the French organization Alliance Israelite Universelle, and…
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Meyer (Max) Rodriguez Garcia
ID CardMax was born to a Jewish family in Amsterdam. He lived in a working-class district occupied by many diamond polishers, of which his father was one. In the 1920s and 30s Amsterdam was a cosmopolitan city with a diverse population. Though his father hoped Max would follow him in the diamond trade, Max dreamed of becoming an architect. 1933-39: Max's happiest years were with close friends in school. His father encouraged him to learn by bringing home newspapers to help his English. After 1933 German Jews…
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Israel Cendorf
ID CardIsrael was born into a religious Hasidic family who hoped he would become a rabbi. But Israel rebelled and apprenticed himself to a printer when he was 16. He read constantly, deepening his sympathy with the workers' struggle, and he soon began to write his own revolutionary songs. His first book of poems, The Red Agenda, was warmly received. 1933-39: In 1933, the year Hitler became chancellor of Germany, Israel moved to Paris. But the city was wracked by unemployment, and Jewish immigrants were in…
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Thomas Buergenthal
ID CardThomas Buergenthal was born in May 1934 in the town of Ľubochňa, Czechoslovakia. His parents, Mundek and Gerda, were Jews who had fled the Nazi rise to power in Germany. In Ľubochňa, Mundek ran a hotel that welcomed other refugees and exiles fleeing Nazi persecution. 1933-39: In 1938-1939, Nazi Germany dismantled the country of Czechoslovakia and created the satellite state of Slovakia. As a result, Thomas and his family fled from Slovakia to neighboring Poland. They hoped eventually to immigrate to…
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Elias (Elya) Grosmann
ID CardElias was born in a small town in the hill country of northeastern Slovakia. His family was Jewish, and he grew up in a religious home in which both Yiddish and Hungarian were spoken. His father was a peddler and his mother ran a small general store. Besides attending public schools, Elias received a formal Jewish education and attended Medzilaborce's rabbinical academy. 1933-39: The townspeople were mostly Jewish and worried about Nazi Germany. The German annexation of Austria in March 1938 alarmed them.…
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Miso Vogel
ID CardMiso came from a religious family in a small village in Slovakia, where his father was a cattle dealer. He was the eldest of five children. When Miso was 6 his family moved to Topol'cany, where the children could attend a Jewish school. Antisemitism was prevalent in Topol'cany. When Miso played soccer, it was always the Catholics versus the Jews. 1933-39: In 1936 Miso had his bar mitzvah and was considered a man. His grandparents traveled 50 miles for it; he was so happy they were all together. In March…
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Ceija Stojka
ID CardCeija was the fifth of six children born to Roma ("Gypsy") parents who were Roman Catholic. The Stojka's family wagon traveled with a caravan that spent winters in the Austrian capital of Vienna and summers in the Austrian countryside. The Stojkas belonged to a tribe called the Lowara Roma, who made their living as itinerant horse traders. 1933-39: Ceija grew up used to freedom, travel and hard work. Once, her father made her a skirt out of some material from a broken sunshade. She was 5 years old and…
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Magda Hellinger
ID CardMagda was the only daughter in a family of five children. Her town of Michalovce, in eastern Slovakia, was an agricultural trade center and it had a large Jewish population. Magda's father taught Jewish history in local Jewish schools. Magda grew up learning Hebrew songs and listening to stories about Jewish history. 1933-39: It's Magda's nature to work with people and to help them work together. In Michalovce she studied to become a kindergarten teacher, and worked to establish a new chapter of the…
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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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Fritzie Weiss Fritzshall describes the selection process in Auschwitz
Oral HistoryFritzie's father immigrated to the United States, but by the time he could bring his family over, war had begun and Fritzie's mother feared attacks on transatlantic shipping. Fritzie, her mother, and two brothers were eventually sent to Auschwitz. Her mother and brothers died. Fritzie survived by pretending to be older than her age and thus a stronger worker. On a death march from Auschwitz, Fritzie ran into a forest, where she was later liberated.
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Belle Mayer Zeck describes research about IG Farben for the postwar trial
Oral HistoryBelle Mayer trained as a lawyer and worked for the General Counsel of the US Treasury, Foreign Funds Control Bureau. This bureau worked to enforce the Trading With the Enemy Act passed by Congress. In this capacity, Mayer became familiar with the German I. G. Farben chemical company, a large conglomerate that used slave labor during World War II. In 1945, Mayer was sent as a Department of Treasury representative to the postwar London Conference. She was present as representatives from the Allied nations…
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Vladka (Fagele) Peltel Meed describes the deportation of her mother and brother from the Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka
Oral HistoryVladka belonged to the Zukunft youth movement of the Bund (the Jewish Socialist party). She was active in the Warsaw ghetto underground as a member of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB). In December 1942, she was smuggled out to the Aryan, Polish side of Warsaw to try to obtain arms and to find hiding places for children and adults. She became an active courier for the Jewish underground and for Jews in camps, forests, and other ghettos.
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Killing Centers in German-occupied Poland, 1942
MapKilling centers (also referred to as "extermination camps" or "death camps") were designed to carry out genocide. Between 1941 and 1945, the Nazis established five killing centers in German-occupied Poland—Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, and Auschwitz-Birkenau (part of the Auschwitz camp complex). Chelmno and Auschwitz were established in areas annexed to Germany in 1939. The other camps (Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka) were established in the General Government (an administrative unit of occupied…
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Elie Wiesel Timeline and World Events: 1928–1951
ArticleSurvivor Elie Wiesel devoted his life to educating the world about the Holocaust. Learn about key events in the world and his life from 1928–1951.
