Student Profile: Irena Maranc

Address: Fisch 22 3
Srodm 71

Good job. It also looks like her ghetto address was Fisch 22 3, and her previous address was Srodm 71. Based on birth dates, Anna and Lazarz may have been her parents since they all had the same addresses.

Even though the last name is spelled slightly differently, I am confident that this is the same person because the birth date is exactly the same and her nationality is listed as "PJ" or Polish Jew. In addition, her arrival date of September 22, 1944 suggests that Irena Marang (Maranc) was among the Jews sent from Lodz to Auschwitz during the August/September 1944 liquidation of the ghetto. She was probably held unregistered at Auschwitz pending her transfer to Flossenburg a few weeks later.

Because there is no birth date or place of origin, I am listing this as "possible." Note that the Register of Jewish Survivors II (Jewish Agency, 1945) also lists Irena Maranc as being at "Matthausen" for her prewar residence. This may be a mistake; it's possible that she was imprisoned (and perhaps liberated) at Mauthausen concentration camp. This is something worth exploring.

Secondary sources state that: "The German authorities transferred more than 300 female Lodz ghetto Jews from Auschwitz directly to Freiberg to produce aircraft wings and ammunition. While conditions at Freiberg compared favorably to Auschwitz, hunger, 12-hour work shifts seven days a week, and mistreatment by the SS guards were the norm. The SS evacuated the prisoners to Mauthausen, in April 1945 where U.S. troops liberated the survivors in May."

Since Pinkas Ha Nitzolim II records Irena Maranc as having "Matthausen" as her prewar residence (clearly a mistake... and a reference to the Mauthausen camp), I believe that she was actually transferred from Auschwitz to the Flossenburg subcamp of Freiberg and then evacuated to Mauthausen where she was liberated.