Hermina Hirsch

"Keep your head up high; being bitter will make no sense. Hope that it will not repeat again what happened in the past. Do not become too comfortable. I hope that it will never come to something like this and that no one will have to go through this again "

Name at birth

Hermina Haber

Date of birth

02/18/1927

Where were you born?

Kosice, Czechoslovakia now Slovakia

Where did you grow up?

Kosice, Czechoslovakia

Name of father, occupation

Jindrich, Talmud Torah Teacher

Maiden name of mother, occupation

Nettie Spitz, Homemaker

Immediate family (names, birth order)

Parents, five sons and four daughters

How many in entire extended family?

Large extended family

Who survived the Holocaust?

All four girls survived and two brothers

My family was taken in 1944. The family was separated by the Germans. At 17, I ended up in the ghetto with my oldest sister, age 24, but was separated from my parents. I was sent to a factory that made bricks and later to Auschwitz, Riga, and Stutthof. I was with my sister throughout and was liberated in January 1945 in Riga, Latvia by the Russians.

Name of Ghetto(s)

Kosice

Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)

Auschwitz Birkenau / Riga / Stutthof

Where did you go after being liberated?

We walked back to our home in Kosice, Czechoslovakia, it took two months

When did you come to the United States?

I joined my two sisters in 1953

When and where were you married?

1949 in Kosice

Spouse

Bernard Hirsch

Children

Henry, Daniel, and Steven

Grandchildren

Twins: Julie and Andrea, Ryan and Stacey Hirsch, and Michelle

What do you think helped you to survive?

You need to be physically strong and luck allowed me to survive. I fought for my life. I did not give up and did everything to survive.

What message would you like to leave for future generations?

Keep your head up high; being bitter will make no sense. Hope that it will not repeat again what happened in the past. Do not become too comfortable. I hope that it will never come to something like this and that no one will have to go through this again