Surviving Auschwitz, with holocaust survivor Ella Blumenthal
What happened during World War 2 was one of the greatest tragedies in recent human history.
During this episode Ben sits down with102 year old Auschwitz survivor Ella Blumenthal. World War 2 broke out when Ella was about 18 years old and despite all the turmoil and evil done to her she survive 3 concentration camps: Majdanke, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen.
In October 1940, she was put into the Warsaw Ghetto along with her family. In the Warsaw Ghetto, Blumenthal helped an underground Jewish organization publish and distribute leaflets.
During this, Blumenthal’s family members kept being taken and put onto transports to concentration and death camps. By the time of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Blumenthal had only two family members left, her father and her eldest niece, Roma Rothstein.
In 1943, Ella, Roma and Ella’s father were taken to Majdanke where her father was sent to the gas chambers. Ella and Roma were also sent to the gas chambers with 700 other women. However, in a turn of fate the gas chamber could only accommodate 500 women. So along with 200 other women Ella and Roma were sent back to the labour camp.
Soon after, Blumenthal and Rothenstein were moved to Auschwitz. While there, Rothstein contracted typhus and was moved to a hospital. On the third day of her being there, the doctor warned her that all remaining patients would be gassed. Rothstein crawled out of the hospital and survived. Blumenthal also contracted typhus, too afraid to the hospital she hid in the block house and toilets. At one point, Rothstein asked Blumenthal if she would commit suicide, Blumenthal refused, as she still wished to live.
In November 1944, Blumenthal and Rothstein were moved to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. They remained here until the British Army liberated the camp on April 15, 1945.
After the war, Blumenthal went to Warsaw with the hope of finding her remaining family members. Blumenthal was able to make contact with Rothstein's father. He had survived by leaving the Warsaw Ghetto and moving to Tel Aviv. He managed to get Blumenthal sent to Paris, where she lived until 1947, when the Rothsteins got a visa for her to join them in Tel Aviv. In Tel Aviv, Blumenthal met her future husband. Out of twenty-three immediate family members, she and the Rothsteins were the only survivors of the Holocaust.
In 2021, she was the subject of the documentary, I am Here, which documented her life in the Warsaw Ghetto and the Concentration camps. Blumenthal currently lives in Cape Town and has four children, eleven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
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Time Codes:
(00:00) Intro
(00:13) Childhood before the holocaust
(01:21) When did you realise your life was going change?
(02:13) How did WW2 change your life?
(02:52) How did you not loose hope?
(03:14) Were there moments of unexpected kindness?
(06:39) How has your experiences helped you understand gratitude?
(08:00) How do you view the world today?
(09:09) How can you still see the best in people?
(09:52) The importance of family
(10:54) Moments that bring you joy
(11:44) Why did you want to share your experiences?
(13:12) A message for the younger generation
(14:03) How did you remain positive?
(15:54) What was it like visiting Auschwitz again?
(17:27) Is there anything specific that you are grateful for?
(18:26 Is there a principal that has helped you?
(19:26) What would you say to your 16-year old self?
(20:21) Outro
