Gerda Weissmann Klein was born on May 8th, 1924 in Bielsko, Poland. Her life suddenly changed when the Germans invaded Poland in 1939. She is the only survivor of her family and group of friends.
In 1942, Gerda was separated from her father (who was murdered that following April in an extermination camp) and survived a selection where she was also separated from her mother (who was selected for death). Klein survived Bolkenhain, Márzdorf, Landeshut and Grünberg. At the end of the war, Gerda witnessed the death of her friend, Ilse, while on the 350-mile death march. She was only one of the 120 women who survived out of the original 4,000.
On May 7th, 1945, the surviving prisoners of the death march were liberated. One of the liberators was Lt. Kurt Klein. Lt. Klein could relate to the group of survivors he had just liberated because his own parents died in Auschwitz. Once anti-semetism began to escalate in pre-war Germany, Klein's parents sent their children to America, in the hope that they would have a better future. In 1942, he joined the U.S. Army which eventually led him to Gerda.
On June 18th, 1946, Kurt and Gerda Klein were married in Paris. After 54 years of marriage and three children, Kurt Klein passed in 2002. Gerda Weissmann Klein is now the author of a Holocaust memoir, "All But My Life", a humanitarian, a human rights activist, the founder of Citizenship Counts and a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.
In 1942, Gerda was separated from her father (who was murdered that following April in an extermination camp) and survived a selection where she was also separated from her mother (who was selected for death). Klein survived Bolkenhain, Márzdorf, Landeshut and Grünberg. At the end of the war, Gerda witnessed the death of her friend, Ilse, while on the 350-mile death march. She was only one of the 120 women who survived out of the original 4,000.
On May 7th, 1945, the surviving prisoners of the death march were liberated. One of the liberators was Lt. Kurt Klein. Lt. Klein could relate to the group of survivors he had just liberated because his own parents died in Auschwitz. Once anti-semetism began to escalate in pre-war Germany, Klein's parents sent their children to America, in the hope that they would have a better future. In 1942, he joined the U.S. Army which eventually led him to Gerda.
On June 18th, 1946, Kurt and Gerda Klein were married in Paris. After 54 years of marriage and three children, Kurt Klein passed in 2002. Gerda Weissmann Klein is now the author of a Holocaust memoir, "All But My Life", a humanitarian, a human rights activist, the founder of Citizenship Counts and a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.
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