Kestenberg Archive

RB was born in 1924 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. After 1933, when Hitler came to power in Germany, the first Jewish refugees arrived in Sarajeveo. In 1941, RB's father was taken to a concentration camp. Her brother ran away from forced labor. In 1945, RB had to stop schooling and was called up for forced labor. She and her mother lived with her grandmother in her apartment. RB was frequently imprisoned for breaking a rule. On October 26, the Ustashe rounded up the Jewish community and they were taken to the Sephardic Jewish center. RB, her mother and her grandmother remained there along with the community. RB witnessed a Ustashe leader deliberately and purposefully crush a crawling infant. RB left the building disquised as a food distributer. She begged the Jewish authorities to release her pregnant mother. She was sent to a region occupied by Italian forces. RB was hidden by a Muslim family. A month later RB's mother joined her. In November 1942, RB and all the other Jews from the Adriatic coast were taken to Kamper Camp on the island of Rab. On September 8, 1943, Italy surrendered. On September 17, RB and 250 Jews left the camp. RB became a medic in the partisans. Her mother directed a home for small children. After the war, RB studied in university and married in 1947.