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Holocaust Research Project: Fanny Aizenberg
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Holocaust Research Project: Fanny Aizenberg
Fajga Orenbuch
Life before the Holocaust
Background
Info
Fanny Aizenberg was born on December 3rd, 1916 in Lodz, Poland. Fanny was born into orthodox family where traditions never changed. When she was just a young child the family moved to Brussels, Belgium where the family was very active in the community. Aizenberg father was employed by the Yiddish Gemeinde this is where they conducted Jewish community organizations. During this time Fanny earned a degree in art and design right before WWII broke out, she found employment among designers creating clothing for the Royal House of Belgium. In May of 1938 Fanny married Jacques, Jacques was a violinst for silent films and a tailor. In March of the following year Fanny gave birth to her first child Josiane.
During the Holocaust;
During
In May of 1940 Germany invaded Belgium, Fanny became involved in the Belgian Resistance movement by hiding refugees in her attic. During her involement in the resistance movement Fanny arranged a hiding place for Josiane and Fanny and her mother Rivke Orenbuch spent time in multiple hiding places until they were found and arrested. Aizenberg and her mother were beaten by Gestapo and taken to the Mechelen (Malines) transit camp, after 10 days in the Mechlen her and her mother along with serveral other prisoners were deported to the concentration camp Auschwitz. While on the 3 day journey with 110 people only 40 survived, once they arrived in Auschwitz Fanny and Rivke were put in separate lines and never saw each other again. Fanny was picked for medical experiments, were she found motivation from a group of 6 women who helped her endure the horrors of Auschwitz and kept her motivated. On January 17th, 1945 Auschwitz was evacuated by the the Nazis during this time Fanny was forced on a death march. After 4 months of the death march in April of 1945 prisoners along with Fanny were liberated near the Elbe River by the Russians.
After the Holocaust;
10 days after Fanny Aizenberg liberation a delegation from the Red Cross brought Aizenberg back to Belgium and she was reunited with Josiane and Jacques. Not to long after being reunited Fanny and her family packed up and moved to Greater Washington, DC. While being in the DC area Fanny volunteered at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum along with her daughter Josiane and her daughter's husband Alfred Traum.
After
A short story featuring Fanny Aizenberg
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted
Short Story
After countless days of constant torture and abuse in the hellish environment of the death march, the only thing that kept her motivated to not end it all was a few women she had made friends with telling her to think of her daughter and how she would feel if Fanny went through with this regrettable action she was thinking of. And according to Fanny it gave her the push she needed to go forward. It gave her a purpose to go on.
Life in the camp
Camp Auschwitz opened in 1940 and prisoners starting coming in at the end of 1940. For the first couple of months prisoners never had beds or any furniture, they slept on straw-stuffed mattresses that were laid on the floor.In the mornings they would pile the mattresses up in the corner of a room because the rooms would be overcrowded with prisoners. Prisoners were only able to sleep on their sides in three rows. By 1941 they slowly upgraded to three-tiered bunks. For the first couple of months prisoners could only draw water from two wells and could only relieve themselves in a latrine (outhouse) . Once they rebuilt the camp they camp had bathrooms which were on the ground floor which contained; 22 toilets, urinals, and washbasins and 42 faucets. The prisoners from the upstairs and downstairs had to use a single toilet which meant there access was limited.
What is camp Auschwitz like
More Info
Auschwitz consisted of three camps including a killing center. More than 1.1 million people died at Auschwitz including nearly one million Jews.The people who were not sent directly to gas chambers were sentenced to foreced labor. The Auschwitz- Birkenau killing center also known as Auschwitz II and was located about 2 miles away from the Main Camp and then the Monowitz or Auschwitz III was about 4 miles from the Main Camp Auschwitz was closed in Janurary of 1945 with its liberation by the Soviet army.
More Info
The Auschwitz Concentration Camp
What the camp consisted of
- Main Guard House
- Camp adminstravtive Office
- Gestapo
- Reception Building
- Kitchen
- Gravel pit: Execution site
- Camp Orechestra Site
- Punishment Bunker
- Gallows
- SS Hospital
Josiane Aizenberg perspective
Josiane Aizenberg life during the Holocaust
Josiane Aizenberg was born into a traditional household in Brussels, Belgium on March 21st, 1939. Leading up to the German invasion of Belgium in 1940 Jacques Aizenberg Josiane father left to join the army thinking that the Nazis would would leave the women and children unharmed. While Jacques is gone this left Fanny and Josiane on their own and not long after the invasion Josiane and her mother had to part for Josiane's safety. Josiane said she could vividly recall the nun who took care of her and how the nuns and the other children proved to be strict. After a year of staying with them the nuns smuggled Josiane and other children and placed them with Catholic families arround Belgium. Josiane was never found and was finally united with her mother and father in Belgium after its liberation, years later after the liberation the family moved to America starting a new life in New Jersey.
Josiane Aizenberg life after the Holocaust
Josiane Aizenberg life after the Holocaust
After moving to New Jersey Josiane took a trip to Israel where she spent a year learning Hebrew and met her husband Alfred Traum. Upon arrival back to the United States Josiane pursued a career as a social worker in Montgomery County, Maryland were she took on her passion of protecting children just like she was protected in WWII.
Volunteering
Volunteering
After retiring from her job in Montgomery County she joined her mother Fanny Aizenberg at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. She was very eager to ask questions that many people had.
Connections
How does the Holocaust relate to my life and the world in which I live?
The Holocaust is still revelant in the world which we live in today because some of the same situations that happenend during the holocaust are still occuring today.
What connections can I make between the victim/rescuer's expericences and my experiences?
The only connection I can make is when Covid started and we were told to take a "little break" until things got better but instead were out of school for several months.
Works Cited
Auschwitz. encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/auschwitz.
Fanny Aizenberg — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. www.ushmm.org/remember/holocaust-survivors/volunteers/fanny-aizenberg.
“From Statistics to Stories: The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s First Person Program.” Boundary Stones, 23 Nov. 2020, boundarystones.weta.org/2017/08/09/statistics-stories-us-holocaust-memorial-museums-first-person-program.
www.auschwitz.org. Life in the Camp / History / Auschwitz-Birkenau. www.auschwitz.org/en/history/life-in-the-camp.