Betty Siebenscheinova (née Rosenbloom, b.1917) was born in Prague to Wilhelm (b. 1882) and Charlotte (née Braunstein, b. 1883) Rosenbloom and had one brother, Max (b. 1913). Betty married Jakub Siebenscheinova (1894-1945) in 1941 and they had a daughter, Desha (b.1943). In 1941, shortly after they were married, Jakub and Betty were transported to Theresienstadt. Betty and a friend escaped and went to Prague to see her family, but they decided to return because they feared for their husbands’ safety in the camp. Betty and Jakub were soon taken to the Lublin ghetto where they escaped and went to Ukraine. Betty obtained false papers identifying herself as a Christian under the name Elizabeth Siebenshein (née Birknerova). After living in hiding for several months, Betty and Jakub were captured and taken to the Sereď concentration camp in late 1942 where they were interned until liberation. Dasha was born in Sereď and stayed with her mother during the war. Both of Betty’s parents and her brother were killed in Treblinka in 1942 or 1943 and Jakub died soon after the war ended. After the war she applied for visas and in 1948 Betty and Dasha moved to Israel. Betty met Walter Steiner (b.1920) and they married in 1949. Walter survived the war in hiding in Bratislava, Slovakia. They immigrated to the United States in 1955.
The Betty Siebenscheinova papers are arranged as five series: Series 1: Biographical material, approximately 1920-1971 Series 2: Correspondence, approximately 1915-1963 Series 3: Diaries, notebooks, and narratives, 1939-1949 and undated Series 4: Subject files, undated Series 5: Photographs, approximately 1940s-1950s
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The Betty Siebenscheinova papers include biographical material, correspondence, diaries, subject files, and photographs relating to the Holocaust experiences of Betty Siebenscheinova, originally from Prague. After escaping several concentration camps, Betty was captured and taken to the Sereď concentration camp in Slovakia. The collection includes Betty's diary and written testimony, restitution documents, identification papers, false identification papers, and wartime and post-war photographs. The collection also includes documents and photographs related to Walter Steiner, whom Betty married after the war. Biographical materials include originals and copies of birth verifications, a marriage certificate, medical notes, restitution material, repatriation cards, and false Christian identification cards for Betty Siebenscheinova as well as a birth certificate, border crossing ID card, and restitution applications and correspondence for Dasha Siebenscheinova. This series also includes a marriage certificate, curriculum vitae, and Czechoslovakia ID card for Walter Steiner as well as a repatriation registration card, marriage verification, and death certificate for Jakub Siebenscheinova. Correspondence includes mostly post-war postcards and letters largely addressed to Betty, including letters from Walter to Betty. Diaries, notebooks, and narratives include diaries, a memory book, and notebooks written by Betty in Czech and German from 1939-1944. In the notebooks, Betty tracks what she ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In the diaries and memory book Betty writes about her experiences from 1939-1944 including recollections of her life before the war and her time in hiding and in the Sereď concentration camp. This series also includes partial translation of of the diaries and typed and handwritten testimony provided by Betty. Subject files include a newspaper clipping from an unknown newspaper with hand written notes. Photographs consists of pre-war, wartime, and post-war photographs and albums relating to the Siebenscheinova family, including Jakub, Betty, and Dasha, during their time in Prague, Sereď, and after the war in Israel. The series also includes photographs from Jakub’s funeral and photographs relating to Walter Steiner and his family during and after the war.
Betty Siebenscheinova papers
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum