KITTY HART. Return to Auschwitz. The remarkable story of a girl who survived the. Holocaust GRANADA. London Toronto Sydney New York

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1 KITTY HART Return to Auschwitz The remarkable story of a girl who survived the. Holocaust GRANADA London Toronto Sydney New York

2 Index Abmeldeschein (exit permit), 50 Ansell's brewery, 213 Auschwitz (see also Birkenau): arrival at, 78-9; orchestra, 90, ; selection for gas chambers, 108-9, ; selection of site, 115; early gassing experiments, 116; construction of crematoria, ; Eichmann visits, ,151; treatment ofjew$/ non-jews, 118; vastness of, 121; as profit-making enterprise, 122; medical experiments, 123-4; factories near, 121-2, 171-2; camp hierarchy, 124; professional criminals in, 125; conditions in winter, 128-9; dentist, 139; victims burned alive, ; destruction of crematoria, ; suppliers of explosives hanged, t72 Auschwitz Il, see Birkenau Auschwitz Ill, 121 Aussenarbeit (outside work), ; work in potato field, 93-5 Bedarf(S.S. man), Beg, Nancie, 218 Belsen camp, 124 Belzec camp, 116 Bielsko, 33, 35, 36 Birkenau (see also Auschwitz): arrival at, 79; interior of block, 85-6; soup 83-4, 97-8, 223-4; German slogans, 86; 'tea', 87, 223-4; deaths in first.weeks, 88-9; camp hierar,c!iy, 89; formation of ' families', 91, 228; Aussenarbeit (outside work), ; railway line extension, ; lavatory huts, 106; washrooms, 107; hospital compound, see hospital compound; Block 25, 108-9; mention of gassing forbidden, ; mass disinfection, 135-6; 'sauna', 135; impromptu concerts, 13 8; remains of, 231 Birmingham, Kitty arrives in, 14 Birmingham International Centre, 25 Block 25, blocks, hospital, see hospital compound BIO"ckiilteste (block senior), 90, 100, 101, 129 Bohrmann (S.S. man), , 132 Brailsford,Dr James, 22-4, 27-8, 210 Breza, Count, 52, 53 Broitzem (Gipsy) camp, 206 Buchenwald, camp, 114 Bug, River, 44-6 camp hierarchy, 89 Cesia (Kitty's friend): at LG. Farben works, 61; treachery in Birkenau, 91

3 236 Index concentration camps, early (see also individual (amps), crematoria: construction of, ; destroyed by Sonderkommando, ; demolished by Germans, 172 Dachau, camp, 115 dead, taking from the, 94 Death Factory, The (Kraus and Kulka),225 Degesch (German Company for Pest Control), 116 Dessau, Dorohusk, 44-7 Dresden prison, 74-6; air raid, 76 dysentery block, 142 Eichmann, Adolph, 112, ; visits Auschwitz, , 151 execution, mock, 71-2 exit permits (Abmeldeschein), 50 factories near Auschwitz, 121-2, F allersleben, 192 'families' in Birkenau, 91,228 Family Camps, 169 Farben, l.g.: aluminium works, ; factory near Auschwitz, Felix family: Kitty's father, 33; Kitty procures tobacco for him, 40; taken on by Count Breza, 52; discourages Kitty from leaving with Simon, 54; returns to Lublin, 57; plan to go to Germany, 58; employed by farmer at Tarnow, 63; news of his death, 207 grandmother: left in Zabia Wola, 55; news of her death, 207 mother: arrives in England, 15; posts as housekeeper, 15, 18-19; need to visit Germany, 29; teaches in Bielsko, 34; teaches English to adult students, 48; teaches Count Breza English, 52; as Kitty's 'aunt', 58-69; works at I.G. Farben aluminium works, ; taken to Ge!,,~po H.Q., 66-7; tricked intobdieving Kitty had confe;~ed, 69; mock execution, 71-2; transferred to Leipzig prison, 73; transferred to Dresden prison, 74; arrival at Auschwitz, 78-9; arm tattooed, 81; allocated to hospital compound, 92; saves Kitty from gas chamber, 141; prevents Kitty from going with Hanka and Genia to gas chamber, 145; asks Hossler to get Kitty out of Kanada, 173-4; leaves Auschwitz, 175; on death march, 181-7; interviewed by American newspapermen, 202; finds work with Americans, 204; makes translations for British, 204; and Hossler's trial, 205; at Broitzem (Gipsy) camp, 206; German compensation, Robert (Kitty's brother), 35; flees from Lublin, 38; news of his death, 207 Fenelon, Fania, 90, 143 gassing, ; mention forbidden, ; early experiments, ; Kitty first witnesses, Genia (Hank a's sister), 137, 138; at

4 l.g. Farben works, 61; reunited with Kitty, 137; admitted to Block 29, 144; taken to gas chamber, German Blood and German Honour, Law for Protection of, 112 ghetto, Jewish: Lublin, 38-43, 48-50; Warsaw, 42 Ginger (Kitty's Kanada friend), Gipsy (Broitzem) camp, 206 Gipsy camp (Lager BIle): extermination, 169 gipsy tells Kitty's fortune, 87 Grese, Irma, 124, 194 Grosse Eule (mountain), 182 Hanka (Kitty's friend), 75, ; at l.g. Farben works, 61; reunited with Kitty, 137; admitted to Block 29, 144; taken to gas chamber, 145 Hart, David (Kitty's first son), 30-31,212,217,228; birth, 211 Hart, Kitty (nee Felix): arrives in England, 13-15; life in nurses' home, 15, 17-18; visits psychiatrist, 18; loneliness in England, 19-20; leaves accident hospital, 20; visits Dr Brailsford, 22-'--4; accommodation in shop front, 24-5; probationer nurse at Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, 24-7; marriage, 27, 209; fulltime appointment, 27; need to revisitgermany, 28; qualifies, 27; concentration camp number removed from arm, 29; returns to Auschwitz, 31-2, birth, 33; early life, 33-5; attends convent school, 34; wins Index 237 swimming medal, 34; evacuation from Bielsko, 35; teeth filled with diamonds, 38; escape to Dorohusk, 43-4; failure to cross River Bug, 45-6; return to Lublin ghetto, 47; escape to the south, 50-52; sleeps in shop front, 51; in Zabia Wola, 51-5; and Simon, 52, 54; works on Count Breza's estate, ~,~ sheltered by Baron ;Fyrnau, 55-7; ill with jaundice, 57; takes false name, 57; arrives in Dessau, 60; works at l.g. Farben aluminium WQfks, 60-66; news from her father, 63; Zosia recognizes her as Jewish, 64; interrogated by Gestapo, 66--8, 69-71; taken to Gestapo H.Q., 66; mock execution, ; transferred to Leipzig prison, 73; transferred to Dresden prison, 74; first hears of Auschwitz, 74-5 arrival at Auschwitz, 78-9; quarantine, 82-92; arm tattooed, 81; gipsy tells her fortune, 87; transferred to Camp BUb, 92; visits to her mother, 94; recognizes Simon, 99; in railway line Kommando, ; evades work by joining night shift, 102; gets message to Simon, 103; lavatory cleaning, 106; attempts to get wood for stove, 130; flogged, 132-3; rest in hospital compound, 134; transferred to Funktion Hrlftlinge compound, 137; reunited with Hanka and Genia, 137; contrives dental visits, 139; her mother saves her from gas

5 238 Index chamber, 141; contracts typhus, 140; attempts to go with Hanka and Genia to gas chamber, 145, but her mother prevents her, 145; joins Kanada Kommando, 147-8; witnesses gassing for first time, 149; visits mother, 156-7, 162; teeth containing diamonds extracted, 162-3; hides jewellery in soup, 165; leaves Auschwitz, 175; rejoins her mother, 174; works in Telefunken factory, 177-9; at camp near Reichenbach, ; on death march, 181-7; attempts to milk bull, 183; sleeps in manure heap, 186; reaches Trautenau camp, 186-7; at Porta Westfalica, ; work in annumition plant, ; knocks Henia out, 192; left to die in train, 195-6; at Salzwedel camp, 196-7, ; is unable to kill GenTIan family, 201; destroys portrait of Hitler, 202-3; moves to camp in Brunswick, 204; finds work with Americans, 204; makes translations for British, 204; and Hassler's trial, 205; at Broitzem (Gipsy) camp, 206; religious views, ; leaves Orthopaedic Hospital, 210; birth of David, 211; obtains mortgage, 211; in private practice with radiologist, 212; German compensation, ; return to Auschwitz, ; her legacy from Auschwitz, 227-8; friendships in Auschwitz, 228; proposal for Holocaust museum, 229 Hart, Peter (Kitty's second son), 212,217,228 Hart, Ralph, 26; marriage, 27, 209; sets up workshop, 212 Henia (Kitty's friend), 30, 180, 193, 206 Heydrich, Reinhard, 112, 113 Himmler, Heinrich, 113, 114, 116 Hitler, Adolf, ; definition ofs.s., ; and 'final solution' of Jewish qu~stion, 116; Kitty destroys portrait of, Holocaust Library and Research Centre, hospital compound (Revier), ; Block 10, 123; Block 12, ; Block 29, Hass, Rudolf, 115, Hassler, Lagerfiihrer, 108, 157; allows Kitty to join her mother,, 173-4; hanged, 205 I Am Alive (Kitty's earlier book), 218 lanka (Cesia's sister): at I.G. Farben works, 61; becomes messenger in Birkenau, Jewish Emigration, Office for, 112 Kanada Kommando, ; gassing, ; sorting of possessions, 152-5; off-duty hours on lawn, 154 Kapo (work party head), Kommandos (work parties), Kanig, Dr, 144 Krasowski, Father, 48; shelters Kitty's father, 57

6 -Kraus, Ota, 225 Krupp factory near Auschwitz, 121,171 Kulka, Erich, 225 Lagerciltester (leading prisoner), 90, 125 Lagerjiihrer, 125 Lagerkommandant, 125 lavatory huts, 106 Leipzig prison, 73-4 liberation at Salzwedel, 200 lice, 103, 107, 135 Lublin: Kitty's family flee to, 36; German troops enter, 37; Jewish ghetto,38-43,48-50 Majdanek camp, 116, marriage forbidden between Aryan Germans and Jews, 112 Max (Kitty's father's cousin): at Dorohusk, 44-5; escapes across River Bug, 45; reaches USA,207-8 medical experiments, Mengele, Or, 108, 123-4, 142, 144 Meyer, Herr, 62 Muselmann, 104-5; Kitty as, 142; and Avo poison, 223 museum of Holocaust, proposed, 229 Nuremberg Laws, 112 Olga (Kitty's aunt), 15 Orchestra, Auschwitz, 90, 'organizing', 83-4,Orli (Lageralteste), 126 'p' badge for Polish slave labourers, 61 Index 239 Poland: Nazi invasion, 36; anti- Semitic feeling in, 42, 113 Porta Westfalica, 189 potato field work, 93-4 Protective Custody (Schutzhajt) decree, 113 punishment squad (Strajkompani), 130; Kitty flogged, quarantine period at Birk\!n!au, " ' Reichenbach, religious belief, 104, Renia (Henia's sister), 193 Revier, see hospital compound Rohde, Or, 144, 157 roll-call, see Ziihlappell Rose, Alma, 137, 138; death, 143 S.K. (Strajkompani), see punishment squad S.S. (SchutzstafJel): ransom demands in Lublin, 38-9; Hitler's definition of, 114; money in Swiss banks, 124; brothel, 163 Sachsenhausen, 115 Salzwedel camp, 197, ; burned down, 'sauna' at Auschwitz, 80, 135 scabies, 107 Schutzhajt (Protective Custody decree), 113 SchutzstafJel, see S.S. selection for gas chambers, 107-9, Siemens factory, Simon (Kitty's first boy-friend), 52, 54,55; Kitty recognizes him in Auschwitz, 99; Kitty gets message to him, 103; becomes a

7 240 Index Muselmann, 104; death, Simon Wiesenthal Centre, 229 slave labour: Himmler authorizes, 114 Sobibor camp, 116 Sonderkommando, 161, 162, 164, 167; destroy crematoria, soup in Auschwitz, 83-4, 97-8; poison in, Sport, 128, 130, 137, 158 Strajkompani (S.K.), see punishment squad Trautenau camp, 186 Treblinka camp, 116 Turnau, Baron, 55-7 typhus block, 143 Volksdeutschen, 115 Wagner (S.S. man), 164 Warsaw ghetto, 42,ti Wunch (S.S. map.1;-'i63; acquitted at trial, 205 tattoo, concentration camp number, 81 Taube (roll-call leader), 85, 108, 'tea' in Ausch~itz, 87; poison in, Terezin (Theresienstadt) ghetto, 119 Zabia Wola, 51-5, Zii"hlappell (roll-call), 80, 84-5, Zimmelbaum, Mala, 165~6 Zosia (Kitty's friend), 63-4 Zyklon B (prussic acid crystals), 116

Contact for further information about this collection

Contact for further information about this collection Baruch, Aliza Israel Documentation Project Hebrew RG-50.120*0007 1.00 From Saloniki Greece. Her father worked at the harbor, and their family was religious, but not extremely so. She attended a private