us-005578-irn30472
type: RecordSet
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
biographical history: Gloria Hartenbaum (born Gizelle Herskovits, later Gizelle Hersh, 1922-2011) was the oldest daughter of Emanuel and Mariska Herskovits. She was born on May 22, 1922 in Satu Mare, Romania and grew up in Bixad, a small nearby community that served as a summer spa resort. Gizelle had four younger siblings: a brother Alexander and three sisters Vicky (later Zepnick), Magda (later Kramer), and Katya (later Rezak). The family was upper middle class family. Emanuel Herskovits owned a bus company and restaurant, and the family lived in a large house with two maids. Emanuel was also a devoted follower of the Munkaczer Rebbe, and he would frequently host Friday night worship ceremonies in their house. The children attended a local Roman Catholic school in Bixad that had sections for both Catholics and other nationalities/religious groups. Around 1937, the family began to experience the effects of antisemitism. Emanuel's bus corporation was taken away and given to a Romanian man named Mera; a few years later their family's restaurant was closed down. In 1940, Satu Mare became part of Hungary, and in March 1944 Germany invaded the region. Despite these hard times, the Herskovits family decided to stay together in their home. In 1944, the heads of households in the town were required to report to city hall and register their families. One week later, the Herskovits family along with many others were gathered and transported to the Satu Mare ghetto. For ten days, they shared a single room in a house with the Waldman family. At the end of April 1944, the Jews of the ghetto were loaded into cattle cars with 100 people per car. Gizelle spent three nights and two days on the train before arriving in Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Upon arrival, the SS officer at the ramp tasked Gizelle with translating Hungarian to German for him. She stood with him at the head of the line as he sorted the arriving transport. The elderly, the ill, and mothers with young children were sent one way while young, …
has beginning date: 1941-01-01
has end date: 1946-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: hun
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had some members with language: ron
has or had subject: 701
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn30472
record resource extent: folder 1
record resource structure: The collection is arranged as a single series.
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: The collection consists of wartime and post-war photographs depicting Gizelle Herskovits (later Gloria Hartenbaum), originally of Bixad, Romania, and her sisters Magda Herskovits (later Magda Kramer), Vicky Herskovits (later Vicky Zepnick), and Katya Herkovits (later Katherine Rezak). The photographs include wartime images of the sisters with family and friends in Bixad and post-war depictions of them in the Feldafing displaces persons camp.
title: Gloria Hartenbaum collection