The papers consist of two notebooks belonging to Rywa Scwarcberg Zeidlitz. It is probable that Rywa obtained the notebooks while in a convalescence home in Sweden, where she was located after liberation. Included in her writings are poems about her experience in Auschwitz and her longing for family members who perished in the Holocaust. Rywa also recounts her family’s experiences in the Łódź ghetto.
Rywa Szwarcberg Zeidlitz was born in Łódź, Poland on March 15, 1915. Her father, Mosze Szwarcberg dealt in real estate and her mother, Gela, took care of the children. Rywa had six sisters and two brothers. One of her older sisters was Lea. The family was forced into the Łódź ghetto in November 1940 where Mosze died of natural causes in the ghetto. In August 1944 Rywa and her sister, Lea, were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. After about a month they were transferred to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. In early April 1945, 500 women prisoners were handed over to the Swedish and Danish Red Cross, Rywa was among them. Rywa had twin daughters, Eva and Gunn.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Rywa Scwarcberg Zeidlitz papers
folder 1