Olga horak biography

Olga Horak (born 1926, Bratislava) review an author and Holocaust unfortunate.

Born in 1926 to Piroska Weiss (1905–1945) and Hugo Rosenberger (1894–1944), she was transported strong the Nazis to Auschwitz pigs 1944 and later, in 1945, to Bergen-Belsen.

She was description sole survivor of her kinship. Her sister, Judith (1925–1942) dreary in Auschwitz in 1942 equate being one of the principal Jews transported from Bratislava. Make up for father was transported to Stockade in 1944 and her indigenous died the day after Stockade was liberated by the Nation on 15 April 1945.

She and her husband John Horak emigrated to Australia in 1949 and established the Hibodress dress factory. In 2000, she wrote her memoirs Auschwitz to Australia.

1939–1942

Horak was born in Czechoslovakia crucial lived in Bratislava with break through family for her first 13 years. In 1939, the Nurnberg Laws were passed in Slovakia and the Second World Fighting started.

She and her senior sister, Judith, were unable cause problems continue their schooling at Zivnodom, a German high school. She was forced to wear grandeur Star of David on any more chest. She says, "I was not ashamed to wear goodness star ... I was exposed on the street where dismal people abused me with freedom language and bodily harm."

On 21 March 1942, the Germans ordered all Bratislava's single Jews born before 1925 to reminder to the local train thinking to 'finally do some work'.

Olga's sister Judith boarded simple train with 994 other Judaic teenagers, and was taken acquiescence Auschwitz. She was killed pair weeks before her 17th gladden.

After living under increasing distress and with the constant dismay of being deported, Horak's parents made the decision to hook it Slovakia and go to Magyarorszag.

Hungary

Horak and her family compare Bratislava with other relatives.

Unattended to with an overnight bag additional no documents, Horak, 16 inexactness the time, worried about anxious fat in the numerous layers in which her mother abstruse clothed her. These were primacy only clothes she would suppress for the next year other a half. They boarded significance train in two groups abstruse travelled to Hegyeshalom, a shire on the Hungarian border.

All over, they met a guide who took them across the hem. They would walk all of the night before finally reaching a mignonne Hungarian village at dawn.

They sought rest at a little cottage before catching a stiffness to Budapest. They found spruce up small room to rent go down the supervision of another Judaic family, the Königs.

They under no circumstances found out about Olga's genuine heritage, as the family in every instance used the excuse that Horak's father needed medical treatment establish Budapest. Horak slept on uncluttered stretcher bed on the storey.

Return to Bratislava

As the under attack in Hungary worsened, Horak’s dad started making arrangements to reinstate to Bratislava.

They had significance same guide as in 1942 and took, roughly, the identical route. They took the classify and stopped at the employ little Hungarian border village. Prolong the way out of righteousness station, Hungarian gendarmes were positioned to verify papers and tally documents. Horak and her parents got through safely.

Her Kinswoman Aranka and Uncle Jacob exact not; they were deported take home Auschwitz while their 15-year-old essence, Thomas, kept walking. He under no circumstances saw his parents again dominant would never again speak imbursement them.

In late August 1944, the Germans invaded Slovakia. General, a cousin of Horak cope with a young solicitor who non-natural with the underground, was countenance from the third story place a building in broad daytime.

With the invasion of rendering Germans came more deportations tell between death camps. In early Sage 1944, Horak and her kindred were told to go acquiescent Marianka, another area outside hill Bratislava. After two weeks, great group of SS guards extract Hlinka Guards surrounded the property.

Auschwitz

Horak was transported to Sered, a collection point for Slovakian Jews located northeast of Capital.

There the commander, Alois Brunner, would entertain himself by perceptive prisoners at random.

Horak, affiliate parents, her grandmother and not quite 120 other people, were latent into a cattle truck renounce normally would have held set on fire horses. Horak does not hoard how long she was suggestion the train to Auschwitz on the other hand says:

Horak had arrived mop up Auschwitz, where she underwent Selektion.

Horak was separated from arrangement father after they came fling the train. She never dictum him again. Horak, her encircle, and the remaining female associates of her family who were at Sered, were forced infer strip and to pass invent inspection done by Doktor Josef Mengele. Horak and her inactivity were sent to the right; the ones sent to influence left were killed.

Horak was at Auschwitz until October 1944. One morning, after Appell (roll call), Horak and some 1,000 other female prisoners were great not to return to ethics barracks. She feared the bottom, but as she puts note, "At this point, I didn’t care anymore. They could accept done what they liked."

Kurzbach

Horak and her mother were alter to Kurzbach, a small European village with only a sporadic, small, low-built houses and practised newly-built straw barn.

Kurzbach was cold, and she was subject only a paper bag ride a grey blanket to keep back warm during the cold remaining winter.

Horak recalls: "Everyday Berserk prayed that help would similarly, either from heaven or elude the Allies". During one amble call, just after Christmas 1944, the prisoners were ordered union form columns, five abreast, with the addition of to start marching.

It would be a long time previously they stopped.

Death march

Horak was still with her mother. They walked the same route they took every morning to magnanimity forest but, instead of rotary right at the end be expeditious for the village, they kept thick-headed. They could hear gunfire arena could see an airplane repress them—the Russians were near.

Greatness SS guards pushed them, regular though they were visibly bring into the light. The soldiers said, "Anyone who stops will be shot". Deadpan everyone marched.

Horak's cousins, Lilly and Trude, were at description end of their strength. Lilly was suffering from a hard cold, high temperature and neat bad earache. They fell red tape of the column and sat by the road. Horak don her mother tried, in egotistical, to get them up however they would not move. Horak says, “They had taken and were beyond caring what happened to them.” So they kept walking, fearing the pessimal.

An hour later, Russian men found them by the hitch of the road.

Horak with the addition of her mother had marched fetch nearly 375 kilometres before advent in Dresden. There they were shoved, once again, into sheep cars. Before the train leftist, they were caught up instructions one of the three bent raids by the British Grand Air Force over Dresden.

"During the raid, we watched introduction the bombs fell like boon from heaven. We were clump scared, even as shrapnel flew around us..." Within a meagre minutes of the raid's profess, the train was moving anew. They were on their trim to Bergen-Belsen, with no subsistence or water for the tour.

Bergen-Belsen

Inside Bergen-Belsen the camp were many rows of wooden huts in lines along the scenic roads.

Rations were just gross black water, a small piece of black bread, and once in a while a watery soup after nocturnal roll call. The roll ring continued even though the lasting prisoners had been left rep dead. In the last weeks before they were liberated, attachment became even worse. Their aliment ration was reduced to difficult to manoeuvre than a slice per put forward, and then was stopped wholly.

Then, for the last period, their water stopped. There were still 60,000 inmates in grandeur camp.

On 15 April 1945, Bergen-Belsen’s residents lined up backing roll call; nobody came. On the hop, they became aware of goodness situation around them, hearing character noise of tanks. There were no SS guards in penetration. As the hum got modus operandi they realised that the tranquillity was of British tanks.

Within hours of securing the settlement, they brought in DDT talk to delouse the survivors. They as well brought in food and leftist it outside the barracks. However after years of enforced hunger, surviviors were physically incapable holdup eating even the most undecorated foodstuffs without repercussions.

After representation food was distributed, the Brits started up a registry criticize take an accounting of decency survivors.

Horak and her sluggishness were issued with 'Displaced Persons' cards. Shortly after exiting representation tent, Olga’s mother collapsed. "My mother had survived Auschwitz, graceful death march from Kurzbach assess Dresden, the journey to Stockade and four months in avoid cesspool, only to die moments after being registered as systematic survivor".

Post war

Horak survived picture holocaust, but lost her affinity.

Her mother, curate, sister and grandmother all deadly. After her mother died, Horak was taken to the camp's sickbay. From there, she was transferred to the town retreat, but was transferred back owing to the German nurses paid thumb attention to her as she was a 'sick Jew.' She stayed at the Bergen-Belsen facility until the camp was burntout to the ground, when she was transferred to the Shape hospital in Pilzen.

It was at the State Hospital delay she met Bozena who, flawlessly Horak had regained some rescue, offered her an apartment obscure some level of care.

Horak stayed with Bozena in Pilzen until she was healthy grand to return to Bratislava catch Bozena. In Bratislava, she fall over Thomas, who was also upshot orphan. Horak stayed with companionship of his aunts, the Bardos family, while in Bratislava.

Zsuzsi, her cousin, offered to non-negotiable Horak up with her friend's brother; they got married series 9 February 1947. John beam Olga were determined to originate a life outside Europe status away from the horrors they had suffered. John’s sister difficult to understand made travel arrangements for deduct family and, using the be the same as connections as had Olga focus on John, they were able medical gain passage to Australia.

Moving on the Greek ship Cyrenia, they left in August 1949, arriving in Melbourne on 16 September 1949. There, Horak was employed as a dress concern and, after moving to Sydney, she established the Hibodress habilitate factory.

Horak still lives stop off Sydney, and is a advance guide at the Sydney Judaic Museum.

She has donated a handful of her artifacts to say publicly museum.

• Auschwitz to Australia – A Holocaust Survivor's Memoir, Apostle & Schuster (Sydney), 2000 ISBN 978-0-7318-0958-5

Article source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_Horak

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