Mimi Reinhardt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mimi Reinhardt
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Carmen Koppel
15 January 1915 |
| Died | 8 April 2022 (aged 107) Herzliya, Israel
|
| Alma mater | University of Vienna |
| Occupation | Secretary |
| Known for | Author of Schindler's list |
| Children | 2 |
Mimi Reinhardt (born Carmen Koppel) was an Austrian secretary. She lived from January 15, 1915, to April 8, 2022. She is famous for working with Oskar Schindler. Mimi typed the important list of Jewish workers. This list helped them get jobs in Schindler's factory. These jobs saved their lives during World War II.
Contents
Mimi Reinhardt's Early Life
Carmen Koppel was born in Wiener Neustadt, which was part of Austria-Hungary. She studied languages at the University of Vienna. While there, she learned shorthand. This skill helped her take notes very quickly.
In 1936, Carmen moved to Kraków, Poland. She went there with her future husband. Their son, Sascha Weitmann, was born in Kraków in June 1939.
Working with Oskar Schindler
During World War II, the Nazis took over Poland. Carmen and her husband sent their son and her grandmother to safety in Hungary. Carmen and her husband were later arrested. Her husband died while trying to escape the Kraków Ghetto. Carmen was 30 years old at that time.
After the ghetto was closed, Carmen was sent to the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp. Because she knew shorthand, she got a job in the camp office. This is where she met Oskar Schindler. She knew that Schindler treated his Jewish workers well. Soon, she became his secretary.
Schindler asked the camp commander for more workers. Mimi then began to type a special list. This list included Jewish workers from the Kraków ghetto. They were to be moved to Schindler's factory. This factory was in a place called Brünnlitz.
The Journey to Brünnlitz
In the fall of 1944, a train was supposed to take the Jewish workers to Brünnlitz. But the train was sent to Auschwitz instead. Mimi and the other "Schindlerjuden" (Schindler's Jews) were held there. They stayed for about two weeks. Mimi later described this time as being "straight out of Dante's Inferno."
Schindler worked hard to get "his" Jews out of Auschwitz. He wanted them to come to Brünnlitz. Because of his efforts, 1,200 Jewish people survived the war. They stayed safe in his factory until May 1945.
Later Years and Passing
After the war, Mimi found her son in Hungary. They then moved to Tangier, Morocco. There, she met and married her second husband, Mr. Reinhardt. He was a hotel manager.
In 1957, Mimi and her family moved to New York, in the United States. She had a second child, a daughter, with her second husband. Sadly, her daughter passed away at age 49.
In 2007, when she was 92, Mimi moved to Herzliya, Israel. She went to live with her son, Sacha Weitman. He was a professor at Tel Aviv University. Mimi Reinhardt passed away in 2022 at the age of 107. She was living in a retirement home in Herzliya.
