Schoschana Rabinovici facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Schoschana Rabinovici
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The Last Witnesses, Burgtheater 2015
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| Born | November 14, 1932 |
| Died | August 2, 2019 (aged 86) |
| Occupation | Author |
Schoschana Rabinovici (born Suzanne Weksler; November 14, 1932 – August 2, 2019) was a brave writer. She survived the Holocaust, a terrible time when millions of Jewish people were persecuted.
Schoschana wrote a famous book called Thanks to My Mother. It tells her amazing story. She was from a Lithuanian-Jewish family. As a young girl, she survived the Vilnius Ghetto and two very harsh places: the Kaiserwald concentration camp and Stutthof concentration camp.
Contents
Early Life in Vilnius
Suzanne Weksler was born in Paris, France, on November 14, 1932. Her parents were studying there at the time. Later, her family moved back to Vilnius, a city in Lithuania.
Suzanne went to a Jewish school in Vilnius. Her parents owned a clothing store. When she was seven, her parents divorced. Her mother, Raja, later married Julek Rauch.
Life During German Occupation
When Suzanne was eight years old, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. German soldiers quickly took over Vilnius in June 1941. Her father, Isak Weksler, was arrested because he was Jewish. He was later killed in a terrible event called the Ponary massacre.
Life in the Ghetto
In September 1941, Suzanne and her family were forced to live in the Vilnius Ghetto. This was a small, crowded area where Jewish people were made to live. Life there was very difficult and dangerous.
In September 1943, the ghetto was closed down. Suzanne and her mother, Raja, faced a very scary moment. They had to go through a "selection." This meant soldiers decided who was strong enough to work and who would be killed.
Raja hid Suzanne, who was only 10 or 11, in a canvas bag on her back. This way, Raja passed the selection, and they were sent to a forced labor camp.
Surviving Concentration Camps
Suzanne and Raja were sent to the Kaiserwald concentration camp in Latvia. To seem older, Suzanne would stand on her toes during roll call. She also wore a turban and high heels. This made her look tall enough to be an adult.
One time, soldiers were choosing weak prisoners to be killed. A German sergeant saved Suzanne's life. He grabbed her arm and pushed her into a coal bin next to a stove.
In October 1944, they were moved to the Stutthof concentration camp. Conditions there were terrible. Many sick and weak prisoners were killed.
As the war ended, the camp was evacuated. Suzanne and Raja had to go on a long, deadly march in the snow. It lasted eleven days in freezing weather. Suzanne became very sick. She was in a coma when the camp was finally freed by the Red Army. It took her a week to wake up.
After the War
Out of about thirty family members, only Suzanne, her mother, and one uncle survived the Holocaust. After the war, Suzanne went to school in Poland.
In 1950, she moved to Israel. She served in the Israel Defense Forces until 1952. In 1953, she married David Rabinovici. They had two sons. Suzanne Weksler became Schoschana Rabinovici. She lived in Tel Aviv and Vienna from 1964.
Her Memoir: Thanks to My Mother
Schoschana Rabinovici's book, Thanks to My Mother, is a powerful story. It is known as one of the most moving books about the Holocaust.
The book gives a rare look at Jewish life in Vilnius during the German occupation. It describes the harsh conditions in the Vilnius Ghetto. It also tells about the forced labor in Germany. The story is told from the viewpoint of a young girl, from ages eight to twelve.
Reviewers have said the book is "riveting, blood-chilling, heartbreaking and, ultimately, awe-inspiring." It shows the incredible love a mother had for her daughter. The book won the Mildred L. Batchelder Award in 1999. This award celebrates great children's books translated into English.
External links
- Stutthof Trial, April 25-May 31, 1946, at jewishvirtuallibrary.org
