Hard memories

Milder, Marie

Surviving Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Description

Marie Milder grew up in Bendzin, Poland, as an only child after her sister was tragically killed while crossing a road. From an early age, and under the influence of her beloved grandmother, Marie developed a passion for reading, both literature and the local newspapers.

As the war progressed, Marie and her mother moved into the Kamionka Ghetto, where they risked their own lives to save those of two young cousins. However, these girls and Marieā€²s mother were murdered on their arrival in Auschwitz.

Marie spent eighteen nightmarish months in Auschwitz until she was liberated. Her remarkable memory of details and events makes her memoir an important contribution to literature on that camp.

After the war Marie took up university studies in Germany, where she met her husband, Paul Milder. In 1949 they migrated to Melbourne, where their three sons were born.