Holocaust survivor Rachel Roth was born in 1926 in Warsaw, Poland. She was just 13 when the Nazis invaded and her family was confined to the Warsaw Ghetto. They hid in a secret bunker, but Rachel’s mother and three siblings were all caught and sent to their deaths. Rachel remained until the Uprising, in which she actively participated by smuggling in weapons to help the resistors. Once caught, she was deported to Majdanek, followed by Auschwitz. Upon her arrival, Rachel was shaved and tattooed with the number 48915. Below the number was a small triangle, half a Star of David, to show she was a Jew. She worked as a slave laborer for nearly two years and was then shipped by cattle car to Bergen Belsen, where she was finally liberated in April 1945. After the war, Rachel made her way to Paris, where she waited for the papers to allow her entry into Eretz Israel. There she met her future husband, Shlomo, and together they emigrated to the US, building a business and a beautiful family. Sadly, Rachel passed away last week at the age of 96. She dedicated much of her life to educating younger generations about the horrors of the Holocaust. Now, it is up to us to tell her story and keep her legacy alive.
Photo: Rachel stands by the barbed wire fence of Auschwitz, 2020 ABMF
Source: American Society for Yad Vashem
