History of Sorts

On March 26, 1942, nearly 1,000 women were transported from the Ravensbrück concentration camp to Auschwitz. Most were labeled as “criminals” or “asocials.” Just a few hours later, another transport arrived—this time, almost 1,000 Jewish women from Slovakia. This marked the first official transport of women to Auschwitz.

Rather than detailing the event itself, I will focus on the harrowing testimonies of four women who survived the Holocaust.

Laura Varon – The Arrival at Auschwitz

“They opened the doors, the squeaking doors… and a little bit of air came in… When we arrived in Auschwitz, we were already numb. Our bones, our legs—nothing moved anymore.

Two men in striped uniforms, hearing us speak Ladino, told us in our language, ‘We are Greeks from Saloniki. Give the children to the old people.’ We didn’t understand what this meant. How could we? ‘Give the children to the old people?’ Then they fell silent, afraid to say more. But that was all they repeated: ‘Give the children to the old people.’”

Feige Serl-Lax – A Mother’s Last Moments

“…And then we were in Auschwitz. They opened the door, and the Polish Jewish boys came… They had been there a long time.

One of them saw my sister—she was beautiful. He asked, ‘Do you have children?’ She said, ‘Yes. Two children.’ And with that, he said, ‘Let the children go left, and you two go right.’

I held onto my child, and my sister held hers. We refused to let them go. We came before Mengele. That same Polish man, the one I wouldn’t give my child to, came and took my child from me. He pushed me to the right. Then he tried to take my sister’s child as well…

Mengele grew angry and told my sister to go left. That was the last time I ever saw her.”

Yehudit Rubinstein – The Dehumanization

“They sent us to the bathhouse. The first order was clear: ‘Everything off.’

We couldn’t believe what we were hearing—strip everything, remove all clothes, take out pins from our hair. It was humiliating. It was the first time in my life that I undressed in public, in front of men. At first, we hesitated, but we quickly realized resistance was pointless.

Then they asked, ‘Who is a hairdresser?’ A woman I knew from my town stepped forward. With scissors and machines, she started cutting—our hair, our bodies, everywhere. Before we could process what was happening, they rushed us into the showers. Water sprayed down before we had even soaked ourselves.

Then came the final order: ‘Raus!’ – Out!

They threw gray uniforms at us, our only remaining possession was our shoes. Naked, shaved, and stripped of everything, we stood in the open air, exposed and powerless.”

Lea Kahana-Grunwald – A Pregnant Woman’s Fate

“A girl arrived with her mother. She was pregnant, but Mengele overlooked it. She wasn’t showing much—it was her first child.

She gave birth on a bunk, without any help. Her mother was with her, and I assume the staff assisted in some way… but I don’t know what they did with the child. Whether they burned it or something else—I don’t know the details.

What I do know is that she had to stand for roll call the very next morning. She survived. The child did not.

She was from my town. She had married only a few months earlier. This was her first pregnancy, her first child.”

sources

https://www.auschwitz.org/en/museum/news/new-online-lesson-women-at-kl-auschwitz,1539.html

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%204004.pdf

https://memoirs.azrielifoundation.org/titles/dignity-endures/

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/women-during-the-holocaust

https://www.yadvashem.org/podcast/episode-6-women-in-auschwitz.html

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%203998.pdf

https://www.yadvashem.org/education/educational-materials/ceremonies/women-auschwitz.html

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