Kestenberg Archive

Magda K.was born in Loew, Mystik, Czechoslovakia in November 1921. She was expelled shortly before graduating high school. One sister and two brothers left for London before the war. Another brother survived in Slovakia. In 1939, MK married a law student who was half Czech and half German. The family fled to Prague to evade deportation. MK divorced her antisemitic husband at 19 years. She attended a Jewish community course, in child care, and worked until deportation on September 1942. MK worked, as a nurse, at the deportation center in Belgastein. On October 26, 1942 MK was taken to Theresienstadt and joined her parents there. MK became a youth leader, taking charge of a children's house. The camp was entirely directed by Jews. In September 1942, a general selection ordered 40,000 residents to evacuate to the fields. The entire camp stood throughout the day and was counted. The entire group was later commanded to return by curfew. Mass panic ensued. In December 1943, MK voluntered to join her mother's transport to Auschwitz. In Auschwitz, MK took charge of children. Within 6 months of her arrival the crematorium worked day and night. Most of the children's transports were gassed. MK and 500 other women were sent to Bergen-Belsen. After liberation, MK reunited with a brother and later worked in a children's home in St. Moritz, Switzerland.