Testimony of Rachel Helena (Aizman Gratz) Ronen, born in Lodz, 1926, regarding her experiences in the Lodz Ghetto, and Auschwitz and Christianstadt camps

Testimony of Rachel Helena (Aizman Gratz) Ronen, born in Lodz, 1926, regarding her experiences in the Lodz Ghetto, and Auschwitz and Christianstadt camps Her father is an actor in the Yiddish theater; assimilated family. Escape of her father and brother to the Ural Mountains in the Soviet Union at the start of the German occupation; entry into the Lodz Ghetto; labor in a bra workshop; activities in Hanoar Hatzioni movement; a family acquaintance helps to prevent their deportation from the ghetto several times; deportation to Auschwitz, 1944; death of her mother; transfer to Christianstadt camp; forced labor in weapons production; evacuation of the camp, late April 1945; escape; finds work in Hinesdorf until July 1945; lack of knowledge regarding the end of the war. Return to Poland; joins aliya pioneer training; aliya to Eretz Israel via Italy on the "Dov Hoz" ship.