Three Sisters (The Tattooist of Auschwitz #3)(115)
Cibi and Livi are listed on the transport leaving Poprad, Slovakia, for ‘Poland’ on 3 April 1942.
Mrs Marilka Trac lived opposite the Mellers and frequently hid Magda in her ceiling during the winter months of 1942 and 1943.
Ilava Prison in Slovakia, where Magda was taken after being captured, was the same prison in which the tattooist of Auschwitz, Lale Sokolov, was imprisoned in 1948.
The Theresienstadt family camp was emptied, and all occupants murdered in the gas chambers, on 8 and 9 March 1944.
Maria Mandel (10 January 1912–24 January 1948, also known as Maria Mandl), was tried, sentenced and executed for war crimes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Mandl
Elisabeth Volkenrath (5 September 1919–13 December 1945) was tried, sentenced and executed for war crimes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Volkenrath
Heinz Volkenrath (28 December 1920–13 December 1945) was tried, sentenced and executed for war crimes on the same day as his wife.
Mala Zimetbaum (prison number 19880) (26 January 1918–15 September 1944) was the first woman to escape from Auschwitz-Birkenau. She fell in love with a Polish prisoner, Edward (Edek) Galinski. They escaped together on 24 June 1944. Galinski turned himself in to the SS when he saw Mala being arrested. Interrogated and tortured, they were to be executed at the same time in the men’s and women’s camps, respectively. Galinski attempted to jump into the noose before the verdict was read, shouting the words ‘Long live Poland!’ The prisoners, forced to watch, took their caps off as a mark of respect to Galinski, incurring the fury of the guards. The reports of Mala’s death vary in the official records. Livi confirms the report that she bled to death on the cart as she was taken to the crematoria. A musical (Mala, the Music of the Wind) and a film (The Last Stage) have been made about Mala. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mala_Zimetbaum
During World War II, Banská Bystrica became the centre of anti-Nazi opposition in Slovakia when the Slovak National Uprising, one of the largest anti-Nazi resistance events in Europe, was launched from the city on 29 August 1944. The insurgents were defeated on 27 October 1944.
24 October 1944 was the last day the gas chambers and crematoria were operational in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Livi saw her mother and grandfather at the train line inside Birkenau. Not knowing what to do, she ran to find Cibi and tell her. The scene described is as it happened: Cibi confronting Kramer, then managing a brief exchange of words with her mother and grandfather as they entered the gas chamber.
Eva, the young Yugoslav girl the sisters cared for during the death marches and at the end of the war, told them that her father had been the personal physician to President Tito. This position did not save his Jewish wife and daughter from being taken to Auschwitz. Eva had been with her mother when she died on the death march. It is not known what happened to Eva after her return to Yugoslavia.
The candlesticks and photos Magda hid in the ceiling of their home in Vranov nad Topl’ou remain in her possession.
The Three Sisters glass sculpture featured in the epilogue was created by Pam and Oded Ravek. It is both a tribute and a memorial. It is a memorial to the 6,000,000 Jews murdered by the Nazis (expressed by fragmented scattered roses with thorns on the base) and to the memory of the 1,500,000 children under the age of thirteen (twelve nascent roses on the second tier without thorns). The intentionally rough-cast numbers on three facing sides are the actual numbers that were burned into the arms of the three sisters. The side with no number serves to illustrate that a number may be filled in by the viewer in his/her mind, and also honours those who perished in the Holocaust who were not inked.
Magda worked for President and First Lady Weizmann from 1950 until the birth of Chaya in May 1951.
Livi worked for President and First Lady Weizmann from March 1951 until June 1955.
President Chaim Weizmann and First Lady Vera Weizmann are buried in the grounds of their home in Rehovot, now a public garden. Livi visits them, taking her children and grandchildren, giving them a special tour that transcends time and brings the gardens and historic figures to life.
AFTERWORD FROM LIVIA RAVEK
F
rom the moment that Heather walked into my home, I instantly liked her. I was drawn to her beautiful smile, cheerfulness and her lovely accent. To me, it was miraculous that Heather would come to see me. I was astonished that she would make a change to her busy touring schedule and come to Israel to meet with me, from South Africa, before returning to her home and family in Australia.
We do have something in common. Heather wrote her first novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, about Lale and Gita, and I knew them from a young age – ‘before’ – back home in Slovakia. Heather has Lale and Gita in her heart, and great love and empathy for people.
The rest is history. It was unbelievable that Heather would write about the lives of my sisters and me. She has a gift of being able to quietly listen and understand. Three Sisters has been two years in the making. I have grown to know Heather, consider her a sister and part of my family, and I love her deeply. I am so proud and honoured to know her.
My family and I look forward to seeing Heather in Israel again soon.
AFTERWORD FROM ODED RAVEK
S
ometimes the stars align and, by a zillion-to-one chance, you discover that dreams, every now and then, do come true.
Ever since I can remember, I’ve longed for the life story of my mother, Livia, and her two older sisters, Cibi, z”l, and Magda, to be told. In the spring of 2019, my wife, Pam, and I were about to embark on a trip to visit our adult children and family in Israel, and to celebrate the wedding of our niece. While doing some last-minute shopping, the novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz caught my eye, and we purchased it to read on our trip. Little did I know that the purchase of The Tattooist would lay the foundation towards the fulfilment of my long-held dream.