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" My father told me that, whatever happens, we must remain human, so that we do not die like cattle. "

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This is a photo Helga drew after her Father said to draw what she had seen to make sure she was safe and taken care of. 

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 Young Helga with her mother and grandparents 

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 Young Helga with her mother and grandparents 

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Helga was able to fool one of the most reviled man in modern history. Named Josef Mengele, in doing this, she saved not only her life but also her mother's.

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Helga was eight years old when the war started and twelve when she was taken away. The first camp she was taken to was called Terezin. Just two years later, at the age of fourteen, she was taken to Auschwitz. She is one of only 100 children to survive Auschwitz out of 15,000 sent from Terezin.

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Arriving at the Auschwitz platform at the age of fourteen, she and her mother were shuffled into a line, waiting if they were to be killed or put to work. After a man named Josef Mengele questioned her and her mother about their age, they lied and said they were sisters. In doing this, she and her mother were kept together and sent to work.

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After her four years spent in Nazi concentration camps, she and her mother returned to their old home. They spent months searching for Helga's Father but were unable to find him on any registration list but Terezin. They found it unbearable to spend time alone together in the flat, so they spent their time walking the streets together until bedtime. Helga and her mother continued living together even after Helga got married. She helped raise Helga's kids until she reached the age of 84, when she sadly passed away.

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Through all of the concentration camps Helga went to, she stayed with her mother. Between 1941 and 1945, they were sent to four camps. The first camp they were sent to was Terezin, where they spent the longest time. The next two were Auschwitz and Freiberg. The last one Helga was sent to was Mauthausen.

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From Auschwitz, Helga was transferred to a labour camp called Flossenburg. That is where she had to participate in a 16-day death march. Where she escaped death for a second time. When asked if she was excited that she was liberated. She replied that "no, it was not that special because by that point she was so ill and had seen so many terrible things it was hard to feel anything."

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Cochrane, Kira. “My Diary Of A Nazi Death Camp Childhood.” The Guardian, The Guardian News & Media, 22 February 2013. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/feb/22/helga-weiss-diary-nazi-death-camp. Accessed 4 March 2025.

Thorpe, Vanessa. “The Schoolgirl Who Survived The Holocaust By Fooling The Nazis.” The Guardian, The Guardian News & Media, 15 October 2011. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/16/schoolgirl-who-fooled-the-nazis

Accessed 4 March 2025.