Miso (Michael) Vogel

Born 1923, Jacovce, Czechoslovakia

In 1939, Slovak fascists took over Topol'cany, where Miso lived. In 1942, Miso was deported to the Slovak-run Novaky camp and then to Auschwitz. At Auschwitz, he was tattooed with the number 65,316, indicating that 65,315 prisoners preceded him in that series of numbering. He was forced to labor in the Buna works and then in the Birkenau "Kanada" detachment, unloading incoming trains. In late 1944, prisoners were transferred to camps in Germany. Miso escaped during a death march from Landsberg and was liberated by U.S. forces.

Describes arrival at Auschwitz.

Ludmilla Page

Born 1920, Kishinev, Romania

Ludmilla was born to an assimilated Jewish family in Kishinev. Ludmilla and her mother, a physician, were living in Poland when the Germans invaded on September 1, 1939. Ludmilla and her mother (who had been arrested along with many prominent members of the community) were taken to Krakow. Ludmilla was forced to live in the Krakow ghetto, while her mother was sent to the Warsaw ghetto. In Krakow, Ludmilla worked in a factory at the Plaszow labor camp for a businessman who was a friend of the industrialist Oskar Schindler. With the approach of Soviet forces in October 1944, Schindler attempted to save Jewish workers from the SS by relocating them to a munitions factory in Bruennlitz, in the Sudetenland. Ludmilla was among those on Schindler’s list who were to be relocated. She and about 300 other women were initially sent to Auschwitz, but were then sent on to Bruennlitz. There, some of the workers sought to sabotage the production of munitions. They were liberated in early May 1945.

Describes leaving Auschwitz for Bruennlitz.

Ruth Krautwirth Meyerowitz

Born 1929, Frankfurt, Germay

In Frankfurt, Ruth's family faced intensifying anti-Jewish measures; her father's business was taken over and Ruth's Jewish school was closed. In April 1943, Ruth and her family were deported to Auschwitz. Ruth was selected for forced labor and assigned to work on road repairs. She also worked in the "Kanada" unit, sorting possessions brought into the camp. In November 1944, Ruth was transferred to the Ravensbrueck camp system, in Germany. She was liberated in May 1945, during a death march from the Malchow camp.

Describes surviving a selection for the gas chambers.

Wolfgang Munzer

Margot Heumann

Ilona Karfunkel Kālmān