Bulletin board by JULIAN SMITH

Background

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Malka was born January 26th, 1918. She was born in Bresko Poland. She was the youngest of 5 children born to Pinkas and Chaya Zimetbaum.

Moving to Belgium

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Malka moved to Antwerp, Belgium on March 21st, 1928. Her family was registered as as living in the city. Malka excelled in mathematics and languages.

Work

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Malka joined a Jewish youth organisation named Hanour Hatzioni. She took a job as a seamstress for Maison Lilian, a major Antwerp fashion house to support her now blind father. She prefered the name Mala.

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Arrested

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On July 22nd 1942, Mala was arrested on her way back from Brussels at the Antwerp central station. She was looking for a hiding space for her and her family. She was sent to the Juden Rampe outside Berkenau and deemed fit for labor.

Resistance

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Mala was put in the women's camp at Berkenau and was housed in what was meant to be a horse stable. She fed starving prisoners and helped prisoners with Malaria. She even was able to send cryptic messages to her family members.

Edek

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Mala formed a relationship with another prisoner named Edek Galinski who arrived in June 1940. Edek found it difficult to part with Mala due to her case of Malaria. He knew that she would have the fate of the gas chamber.

Escaping

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Edek and another prisoner named Wielslar planned to escape. Edek wanted to escape with Mala but that was questioned due to her Malaria. Edek was able to get a SS Guard uniform which paired with an ID card, made their plans change to where Mala and Edek could escape.

Execution

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Edek and Mala were caught by the Bielitz Gestapo on July 6th, 1944. They were sent to Auschwitz for questioning but they didn't betray anyone. Edek was then hanged and nobody knows what happened to Mala.