Noémi Ban facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Noémi Ban
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Noémi Schönberger
September 29, 1922 Szeged,
Kingdom of Hungary |
| Died | June 7, 2019 (aged 96) Bellingham, Washington, U.S.
|
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse(s) | Earnest Ban (Bán Ernő) |
Noémi Ban (born Noémi Schönberger) was a brave woman. She was born in Hungary in 1922. She was a Jewish American who survived the Holocaust. This was a terrible time during World War II. Later in her life, she became a teacher and a public speaker. She won the Golden Apple Award for her work. She lived in Whatcom County, Washington in the United States. Noémi Ban passed away in 2019.
Noémi Ban's Early Life and the Holocaust
Noémi Ban was born Noémi Schönberger in Szeged, Hungary. Her parents were Juliska and Samu Schönberger. She was the oldest of three children. Her sister was Erzsébet, and her baby brother was Gábor. Noémi was only 20 years old when she and other Jewish people were forced to live in a special area called a ghetto.
In 1944, Germany invaded Hungary. This was called Operation Margarethe. Noémi's father, Samu, was sent to a labor camp. This was a place where people were forced to work very hard. Noémi, her sister, her baby brother, her mother, her grandmother, and eleven other relatives were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. They arrived there on July 1, 1944.
Auschwitz was a very dangerous place. Sadly, all of Noémi's family members who went to Auschwitz were killed. But Noémi was chosen by a doctor named Josef Mengele to be sent to another camp. This was the Buchenwald concentration camp. There, she was forced to work in a factory that made bombs. Noémi bravely tried to make the bombs so they would not work correctly.
On April 15, 1945, the people at Buchenwald were forced to march to another camp. This was the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. On the way, Noémi and eleven other people from the camp managed to escape. They were found by the U.S. Army. The U.S. Army had just freed the Bergen-Belsen camp.
Noémi went back to Budapest, Hungary, in September 1945. There, she was reunited with her father, Samu. Her father later changed his last name to Gábor to honor his son who had died. In October of that year, Noémi married a teacher from Budapest named Ernő Bán. He later became known as Earnest Ban.
After the Communist government took control of Hungary, Noémi became a teacher herself. She taught 7th and 8th grade. Life was hard under the Soviet Union's control. Noémi, Earnest, and their two sons, István (Steven) and György (George), tried to escape to Austria. They were stopped on a train at the border. But less than a month later, on December 29, 1956, they tried again. This time, they hid in a shipment of large balls of yarn. They succeeded and made it to Sopron, Austria.
Life in America and Sharing Her Story
In 1957, Noémi and her family moved to St. Louis, Missouri in the United States. Noémi and Earnest learned English. They also earned degrees in education. Their son Steven moved to Bellingham, Washington. Because of this, Noémi and Earnest moved there in 1982. In 1994, Earnest passed away from Alzheimer's disease.
After Earnest's death, Noémi Ban became a public speaker about the Holocaust. She gave talks all over the country and even in other countries. She spoke in Hungary and in Taipei, Taiwan. In 1998, she received the Golden Apple Award. This award honors excellent teachers.
In 2003, she wrote a book about her life. It was called Sharing Is Healing: A Holocaust Survivor's Story. The book shared her experiences during the Holocaust. It also talked about her work as a public speaker. In 2007, a documentary film was made about her life. It was called My Name Is Noémi. Noémi Ban died in June 2019. She was 96 years old.
