"On the Threshold of Oblivion by Samuel Shats. Part III
"Dedicated to those children and young people of yesterday, for their strength to survive and build new life. To the children and young people of today, may this example of resilience inspire you".
By Archivo Judío de Chile
Samuel Shats
Verónika (Vera) Vegvari 1926, Nyirmada, Hungary. (2015-10-01/2015-10-01) by Samuel ShatsArchivo Judío de Chile
Verónika (Vera) Vegvari. 1926, Nyirmada, Hungary.
Her family is taken to a ghetto and then to Birkenau where she and her mother are separated from her father and siblings whom they never see again. They survive Auschwitz and return to Hungary. She marries and on their honeymoon they go to Chile. The communist government closed the borders. They settle in Chile.
Ursula Michels 1916, Berlin, Germany. (2015-10-01/2015-10-01) by Samuel ShatsArchivo Judío de Chile
Ursula Michels. 1916, Berlin, Germany.
After a childhood and youth in a well-to-do family, life begins to fall apart. His father is fired from his job for being Jewish and the economic situation becomes difficult.They arrived in Chile in 1939 on an Italian ship. She married and started a family.
Samuel Dermer 1930, Chernovitz, Romania. (2015-10-01/2015-10-01) by Samuel ShatsArchivo Judío de Chile
Samuel Dermer. 1930, Chernovitz, Romania
After the establishment of the Chernovitz ghetto he is moved with his parents to Mogilev and Transnistria. He never sees his father again and his mother dies of typhus. He goes to various homes for orphaned children in Romania and then Israel. In 1957 a relative brings him to Chile.
Elfriede Simon 1930, Herborn, Germany. (2015-10-01/2015-10-01) by Samuel ShatsArchivo Judío de Chile
Elfriede Simon. 1930, Herborn, Germany
Her father is taken to Buchenwald. Despite her best efforts, her mother only gets visas for herself, her husband and Elfriede. Her paternal and maternal grandparents are murdered in Minsk and Theresienstadt respectively. After a rough start in Chile, she marries and starts a family.
Wolf Yudelewicz 1927, Beranovic, Poland. (2015-10-01/2015-10-01) by Samuel ShatsArchivo Judío de Chile
Wolf Yudelewicz. 1927, Beranovic, Poland.
Youngest of 4 brothers. During the war he was on the brink of death many times, but managed to avoid it. His father, mother and two brothers were shot. After the war he was in Lithuania and Italy until his brother sent him a visa to Chile. He marries and has three children.
Federica Sauer 1912, Budapest, Hungary. (2015-10-01/2015-10-01) by Samuel ShatsArchivo Judío de Chile
Federica Sauer. 1912, Budapest, Hungary.
His family consisted of his parents and sister. He married in Hungary and they both sensed that serious trouble was coming, so they emigrated to Chile. No one followed them, they did not see any likelihood of anything bad happening in Hungary. His parents and sister are saved, the rest are not.
Ruth Markowitz 1924, Leipzig, Germany. (2015-10-01/2015-10-01) by Samuel ShatsArchivo Judío de Chile
Ruth Markowitz. 1924, Leipzig, Germany.
Friends recommend leaving the country.<br>She is sent to Switzerland while her parents process the visa, which takes a year. As soon as they got it, they travel to Chile. The ship is intercepted and her father is sent to a concentration camp. After a year the three of them meet in Valparaíso.
Tibor Veszpremi 1923, Tata, Hungary. (2015-10-01/2015-10-01) by Samuel ShatsArchivo Judío de Chile
Tibor Vespremi. 1923, Tata, Hungary
After the invasion they are confined in a ghetto. His stepfather and mother sent to Auschwitz where they are murdered. When they begin to be sent to Austria, he receives a certificate that allows him to emigrate to Switzerland. He returns to Budapest to study when he receives a visa for Chile where he starts a family.
Alicia Hochman 1931, Svalava, Czech Republic. (2015-10-01/2015-10-01) by Samuel ShatsArchivo Judío de Chile
Alicia Hochman. 1931. Svalava, Czechoslovakia.
She was 12 years old when she was taken to Auschwitz. She worked sorting belongings. Together with her mother and aunt she experienced the Death March. In Prague they learn that her father did not survive and her brother did. In 1949 they travel to Israel. She meets her husband who had arrived in Chile in '39.
Sylvia (Krystyna) Felsenhardt (Wikinska) 1942, Warsaw Ghetto, Poland. (2015-10-01/2015-10-01) by Samuel ShatsArchivo Judío de Chile
Sylvia(Krystyna)Felsenhardt(Wikinska)1942, Warsaw Ghetto
After escaping from the ghetto they go through different places/situations. For safety's sake she is baptised a Catholic with the name Krystyna Wikinska. To avoid suspicion, the father leaves the village, never to be seen again. In 1956 she goes with her mother to Israel and after her death she comes to Chile.
Erica Kurz 1926, Chernovitz, Romania. (2015-10-01/2015-10-01) by Samuel ShatsArchivo Judío de Chile
Erica Kurz. 1926, Chernovitz, Romania.
With the arrival of the Soviets in '39 everything is taken away from them. To avoid being deported to Siberia, they wander from place to place. With the arrival of the Nazis, they were transferred to Transnistria, where they were taken over by the Romanians. After the war they settled in Bucharest. In 1947 they emigrate to Chile.
