Marianne Szanto (1932-2006) was born in Szolnok, Hungary in 1932. After her parents divorce in 1936, Marianne’s mother, Irene (née Ehrich, b. 1905), married Kalman Kemeny and he adopted Marianne. In the early 1940s, Kalman was conscripted into forced labor and Marianne and her mother were forced into a ghetto. In June 1944, they were taken to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Marianne was soon sent to the Hessisch Lichtenau labor camp to work in a munitions factory. She was later sent on a death march for four weeks before being liberated by U.S. troops. After liberation, Irene and Marianne went to Budapest to stay with an aunt where they were reunited with Kalman. Marianne immigrated to Canada in 1957. In 1960 she married Alexander Wolfe and moved to Ottawa. They had a daughter, Irene (b. 1965).
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Marianne Szanto papers
Copyright Holder: Ms. Irene Wolfe
folders 2
The Marianne Szanto papers are arranged as two folders: Folder 1 - Diary and autograph book, 1944-1957 Folder 2 - Poems and drawings, 1944-1957
The Marianne Szanto papers include a booklet, part diary, part autograph book, written by Marianne Szanto mainly while imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and Hessisch Lichtenau labor camp. The booklet was made with pieces of paper found in the munitions factory and includes poems and entries. The collection also includes loose pages of entries, drawings, and poems, also believed to be kept by Marianne.