Child Holocaust survivor describes helping other survivors

Mirjam Schuster was born in 1935 in Zarojani, Moldova, to an observant Jewish family of six children. In 1941, the family was deported by Romanian soldiers and forcibly marched, together with all the Jews in the area, towards Transnistria. After more than two months of walking day and night, Mirjam and her family arrived at Balki, near the city of Bar, where thousands of Jewish prisoners were crammed into horse stables without windows or doors. The stables were terribly crowded, and rife with hunger and disease. Mirjam and her family slept on the exposed concrete floor. Her mother saw to Mirjams needs and those of the other children, while her older sisters smuggled in food from the adjacent village.

Mirjam remembers a Jewish child named Mendele, who was smuggled into the camp by his parents. Mirjam took Mendele under her wing and protected him from other children who were bullying him. One day, the Germans found Mendele and murdered him. His horrific death left Miriam deeply scarred.

In 1944, the Soviets liberated Balki. Out of more than 10,000 inmates, only a few hundred had survived. Following liberation, the Jewish Agency placed Mirjam in a childrens home. After a few months, she boarded an illegal immigrant ship, which was intercepted by the British and sent to Cyprus. Just before the establishment of the State, Mirjiam finally reached Israels shores.

Mirjam married Moshe and has three children and eight grandchildren. After her children had grown, she began volunteering with new immigrants, helping ease their adjustment to living in Israel. Today, Mirjam is the volunteer director of the Help for Holocaust Survivors organization.

For more details. click here: http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/remembrance/2009/schuster.asp

Category:

Education

Tags:

• yad
• vashem
• yom
• hashoah
• holocaust
• survivor
• testimony
• shoah
• romania
• transnistria
• משפט אייכמן
• גדעון הואזנר

[Shimmeringsmiley]

Amazing how people can go through complete, unexcusable, unquestionable hell and live on and smile knowing it's a new day. Bless her and her family she loves so...

[hankiedave]

Yes that is true...To take away the pain is to give love to others, give something to those who do not have..anything you cud give from the bottom of ur heart without conditions...then joy will take place into our hearts.

[ChicaBuenosAires]

did her family survive?

[clintonearlwalker]

And the best part is Hitler and his incredibly evil third reich are long gone. Do everything you can to make sure it stays that way.

[HetaliaFullmetal101]

God Bless Isreal and Holocaust survivor and victims families.

[dogid3]

i wish my great granpa could tell his story....but he's gone...

[TheAkemiSaurus]

this makes me realize just how ungrateful we are. we complain about things like being a little hungry or having to go to school or work when those people at the camps probably would've given anything to be able to have our lives when they were in there.

[JbsFavoriteGirl793]

i just want to huge her 

[randy95023]

Let us NEVER forget! But let us also live, looking forward, praising God every single day. God Bless Israel!

[KemoSTL]

reality is not real...

[KOSMICKEN09]

I cry everytime I hear about anything to do w/ the holocaust. It makes me wonder what is wrong with mankind. It's something people NEED to know about, even if it is painful to see or hear about.

[jojo10178]

God bless her!