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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
Our home town
2. Our vanished world - lost - bygone past
3. Our stolen and lost youth
4. Labour camps
5. Air raids
6. Fire in the plant
7. Zsuzsi
8. Refugees
9. Leaving our home
10. We Were Homeless
11. Latrine
12. Bar Mitzvah
13. Our Last Days and Leaving
14. Auschwitz
15. Kaiserwald at Riga
16. Stutthof
17. Glowen
18. The Last March
19. Ravensbruck
20. Battleground
21. The Road to Freedom
22. Trying to Cope With Out New Found Freedom
23. Muritz-Malchow
24. Departure
25. Cesky Tesin
26. Budapest
27. Garai Magda
28. Homeward Bound
29. Our Family on Father’s Side
30. Our Family On Mother’s Side
31. Here We Go Again!
Appendix
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Volume 17
Helen Rodak-Izso
The Last
Chance to Remember
published by
the
Concordia University Chair in Canadian Jewish Studies
Copyright © Helen Rodak-Izso, 2002
Key
Words
Kosice-Kassa,
Czechoslovakia; Labour camps; Auschwitz; Dr. Mengele; Birkenau;
Kaiserwald camp, Riga; Kurbe, Latvia; Dundanga camp; Rechlin camp;
Stutthof, Danzig; Glowen camp, near Nitzow/ Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg;
Ravensbruck camp; Muritz camp; Russian soldiers; Budapest; Emigration
to Canada, family life, occupation.
Abstract
Describes the features of her town Kosice-Kassa, located in the
border area between Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Recalls past family
life; brother leaves for Palestine. She marries in 1942, husband
sent to labour camp, then into combat on the Russian front. Air
raids over town. German invasion of Hungary 1944. Introduction of
"Yellow Star" and leaving home for temporary quarters
on outskirts of town. Evacuated to Auschwitz June 2/3 1944. Selection
by Dr. Mengele. She manages to stay together with her older sister
for the duration of the war. Last view of Mother. Describes the
distinctive "stars" worn by the different prisoners. Sent
to Kaiserwald Camp near Riga. Transported to Kurbe, Latvia where
she spends a month. Recalls cruel treatment at the hands of Jewish
woman from her town. Incident when S.S. guard gives her bowl of
soup. Moved to Stutthof camp, Danzig. Calls this the darkest of
all camps. No work was carried out, but suffered from the constant
selections. Moved to Glowen, a labour camp. Allied air-raids begin,
camp evacuated. Inmates forced to march for three weeks. Roads crowded
with civilians escaping the Russian onslaught. Reach Ravensbruck
camp; receive Red Cross parcels. After short stay prisoners are
forced to march again, until guards desert and they are left on
their own. Liberated May 2, 1945 in Muritz near Hamburg. Journey
home through Cracow, Bratislava, Budapest. Finds brother alive.
Relates incidents of meeting relatives who are indifferent to their
plight. Narrative includes description of all family members who
did not survive. Emigrates to Canada via Southampton and Halifax
to Toronto. Works as library assistant at University of Toronto.
Death of husband and remarriage until widowed again. Describes her
children and grandchildren.
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