As the world commemorates the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps and the end of World War II in Europe, the story of Gerda Weissmann Klein continues to resonate as one of the most powerful testaments to human resilience, dignity, and hope in the face of unimaginable cruelty and suffering.
Gerda Weissmann Klein, a Polish-born Holocaust survivor, endured the horrors of the Nazi regime, including six years of forced labor and internment, culminating in a brutal 350-mile death march across Germany in the final months of the war. Her story, which is immortalized in her memoir All But My Life (1957) and the Academy Award-winning short documentary One Survivor Remembers (1995), stands the test of time as a profound testimony of survival, remembrance, and the importance of bearing witness.
Gerda Weissmann was born on May 8, 1924, in Bielsko, Poland, into a loving Jewish family. Her childhood was marked by the normalcy and happiness of prewar Europe. She was particularly close to her older brother, Arthur, and enjoyed school, nature, skiing and vacationing. Her life changed forever when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. As the war progressed, Gerda and her family were subjected to increasingly brutal restrictions and imprisonment in the basement of their own home. Gerda’s brother Arthur was allegedly deported to work in the eastern regions of Poland, but he was never heard from again.
In 1942, Gerda and her family were forced to move into the ghetto in Bielsko before she was separated from her parents when they were deported and murdered at Auschwitz. Gerda was deported to Sosnowiec transit camp near Auschwitz, and later to a series of forced labor camps. Through it all, she remembered the words of her father, urging her to never give up hope and lose her will to live. That hope sustained her through the next three years of starvation, injuries, illness, and humiliation. She endured imprisonment and forced labor in a series of textile mills and camps in the Gross-Rosen concentration camp system. Between the summer of 1942 and early January 1945, Gerda was imprisoned in Bolkenhain (Poland), Merzdorf (Poland), Landshut (Germany), Grünberg (Zielona Góra, Poland).
In the winter of 1945, as the Allied forces closed in, Gerda and thousands of other women in Grünberg were forced on a death march of more than 350 miles in winter conditions by the retreating Nazis. For three months, in bitter cold and with barely any food or shelter, the women marched across the mountainous area of southern Germany. Of the 2,000 women who began the march, only 120 survived.
On May 7, 1945, Gerda was liberated by American troops in Volary, Czechoslovakia. Among them was Lt. Kurt Klein, a Jewish-American intelligence officer who had fled Germany before the war. He was the first to show her kindness after years of dehumanization. Their meeting would change both their lives when they fell in love in the summer of 1945 as Gerda recovered. They married in 1946 and built a new life together in the United States.
Gerda’s story is not just one of survival, but of transformation. She transformed herself victim to witness and survivor, and transformed the pain of her loss and suffering to determination and purpose. She spent the rest of her life educating others about the Holocaust, tirelessly advocating for tolerance, civic responsibility, and human rights. Her legacy includes not only her writings and public speeches, but the millions of young people she inspired to remember the past and work for a better future.
In 2011, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. President Barack Obama introduced her as “a woman of extraordinary grace and compassion,” whose story reminds us that “even the most unimaginable cruelty can be overcome with determination and hope.”
In commemorating the 80th anniversary of liberation, Gerda’s story remains as inspiring as ever. At a time when survivors are passing away and Holocaust denial is rising, her firsthand account serves as a compass of truth and morality. Her quiet strength and refusal to hate, even after all she endured, underscore the power of the human spirit. Gerda Weissmann Klein’s story of survival challenges us to confront hatred, defend the dignity of all people, and recognize our shared humanity. Her legacy stands as both a remembrance of those who were lost and a beacon for future generations. In remembering Gerda, we honor all who suffered and reflect on our commitment to never let such darkness take hold of humanity again.