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irisblue

(34,281 posts) Sun Nov 17, 2024, 02:11 PM Sunday

Denise Holstein, Auschwitz survivor passed. May her name be a blessing & a memory

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With great sadness, we received the news about the passing of Auschwitz Survivor Denise Holstein.

Denise Holstein (6 February 1927 – 16 November 2024) dedicated her life to sharing her testimony and educating future generations about the atrocities she endured. She wrote two books about her experiences and participated in a documentary, recounting her story with unwavering courage.

Denise was born into a Jewish family in Rouen, France.

During the war, her father, Bernard, was briefly interned at the Drancy camp in 1942 but was released after three months. By 1943, however, the Holstein family’s fate took a darker turn. On January 15, Denise and her parents were arrested during a mass roundup of Jews in Rouen. While her parents were deported to Auschwitz later that year, Denise, sick with diphtheria and mumps, was initially spared and placed under the care of the Union Générale des Israélites de France (UGIF), living in homes for Jewish children whose parents had been deported.

By 1944, at just 17 years old, Denise was acting as a caretaker for younger children in the UGIF home in Louveciennes. Despite her young age, she took on the role of mentor and protector for a group of children, trying to shield them from the horrors surrounding them. However, on July 22, 1944, the home was raided on the orders of German officer Alois Brunner, and Denise, along with the children, was taken to Drancy.

On July 31, 1944, Denise was deported to Auschwitz with 34 children from Louveciennes. Denise did her best to comfort the children, singing to them and offering whatever solace she could.

Upon arrival at Auschwitz, Denise narrowly escaped death. A French deportee advised her not to take the hand of a crying child, a decision that could have led to her immediate execution in the gas chambers. While this advice saved her life, the children she cared for were all sent directly to the gas chambers upon arrival.

In Auschwitz, Denise worked long hours transporting heavy stones and endured brutal roll calls. At one point, she fell seriously ill with scarlet fever and was sent to the camp infirmary, where she encountered Josef Mengele.

In late 1944, Denise was transferred to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She was liberated there on April 15, 1945, by British forces. Emaciated and suffering from typhus, she required immediate medical care but began the slow process of recovery and reintegration into life after the war.