LILLY APPELBAUM MALNIK
Born: 1928, Antwerp, Belgium
About Her
Lilly went into hiding after the Germans seized her mother, brother, and sister. in order to keep herself from being seized, she hid her Jewish identity. However, after two years she was denounced by some Belgians and then was taken to the Auschwitz Concentration camp, specifically Auschwitz-Birkenau which is said to have been responsible for 1 in 6 of the 5.6 million Jews killed During WWII. After the Death March, Lilly was set free by British forces.
Lilly's story
Lilly was placed in Auschwitz and one day the people in the concentration camp were told they were being evacuated because the Russians were coming. They were forced to walk and walk. the people who could not keep were shot and killed on the spot. anyone who tried to escape was killed. because so many people were dying, the ravines and gutters were filled with blood. this event was called the Death March. The people walked for days and occasionally rode in train cars that were packed full. They walked from Auschwitz in southern Poland to northwestern Germany where they arrived at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
most memorable quote of her testimony
" Some people who couldn't keep up with the walking anymore, they got weak, they threw all their bundles away and they walked until they couldn't keep up anymore, they fell behind and the Germans just shot them."
This quote basically says that after a certain point people just gave up. They no longer had hope and they let themselves die because they just could not handle it anymore.
What i learned...
You can make it even through the worst of circumstances. Survival is possible.