Community Corner
Holocaust Survivor Shares Story of Loss, Survival and Triumph
'You'd be surprised how much you want to live,' 86-year-old Magda Brown says about her imprisonment and escape from Auschwitz. The Holocaust survivor shares her story. Sponsored by Grape-Nuts.
By Mary Compton, Patch contributor
About this sponsorship: In honor of the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s historic ascent of Mount Everest, Patch and Grape-Nuts are teaming up to highlight those who inspire people around them to climb their own mountains.
Magda Brown’s nine grandchildren gaze smiling at her from the photos on her refrigerator. They are one of her great joys, yet she is keenly aware her own parents were deprived of similar joy.
They, along with 61 other family members, perished in the Holocaust.
Brown, 86, was taken to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp as well. But she survived to tell her story. Her words, and those of thousands of survivors like her, are housed at Skokie’s Illinois Holocaust Museum, which is recognizing its 50th anniversary this year.
In May, Brown received an honorary doctorate from Aurora University and presented the commencement address, sharing her story as she's done countless times since coming to the United States.
Arrival at Auschwitz
Her story begins in Hungary in June of 1944. On her 17th birthday, Brown and her parents were loaded into a cattle car with about 80 other people.
“It was hot, dark and full of body odor,” Brown remembers. “I stood for three solid days without water. Do you know what it is to go without water for three days? You can’t describe the thirst. You can’t focus on anything else. … I remember a young woman had a baby on her bosom; the baby was already dead.
“When the cars stopped, there was a sea of people. It was chaos. We were ordered to parade forward. You are now a zombie, you have no name.”
She glanced at her mother next to her and told her she would see her later. Brown never saw her again.
“I was led to a building with other women. We were disrobed. Girls in front of us were screaming as their heads were shaved. Then we were led into a room with about 50 showerheads. It was disinfectant. It stung all over my body.”
For days, Brown and hundreds of women had to stand for hours on end, being counted several times a day.
“We were all looking for our family,” Brown continued. “I asked some of the people that were there before us, ‘Do you know where our families are?’ A few of them pointed to five chimneys. Thick black smoke was pouring out of them. The odor was horrid, like when you take the feathers off a chicken. I will always remember that smell.”
Forced Labor, Then Escape
Soon Brown had to disrobe to the waist in front of the guards so they could decide if she was strong enough for labor. She was shipped to an ammunition factory, making bombs for the Nazis.
“I had to work with all these poisons. It was hard work. … In three months, all who worked there, our skin turned yellow and our hair was growing in orange. The poisons were affecting our bodies.”
After about three months, the camp was evacuated.
“We were being sent on a death march,” Brown said. “For three days, we walked for miles. It was wet and cold during the night we slept in ditches. A group of us spotted a barn. We planned to escape to the barn and sleep there. We made it that night.”
Brown stopped talking for a moment as she recalled her strength. “You’d be surprised how much you want to live,” she said.
A couple days later they saw two men in uniforms they didn’t recognize. They were members of the 6th Armored Division from the United States. The soldiers rescued them.
“We cried. We kept hugging these soldiers. We were free,” she said.
After liberation, Brown spent six months in a camp in Germany. A Jewish U.S. Army chaplain asked her if she had relatives around the world. She told him she had an uncle in Chicago. After going back to Hungary to search for her family, she came to Chicago in September of 1946.
Sharing Her Story
“People who survived the Holocaust came to America and shut our mouth and went on with our lives, “ Brown said.
That was until in 1978 when the Nazi movement applied for a permit to march in Skokie, a predominately Jewish community.
“We all came out at that point,” she said.
And the village of Skokie responded. In 1981 it built the first Midwestern Holocaust Museum. Then in April 2009, a larger up-to-date, Illinois Holocaust Museum opened.
Brown says it is a challenge to live with her memories day in and day out. She tries not to cry when she tells her story, but acknowledges that there are some particularly sensitive memories she does not speak about.
She is buoyed by the hundreds of letters of support she receives from students after she speaks to them.
“Of all the thousands of people I have spoken to, only one person was insulting,” she said. “I let him talk. You can’t fight a closed mind.”
She chose to start sharing her story to make sure her history and those like it are remembered.
“I felt I could not bring back my parents or all the millions that perished. I hope people will never forget what happened, that this will never again take place."
To hear Magda Brown’s story, call the Illinois Holocaust Museum at 847-967-4800 to book her or other survivors at your school or community.
Through the past few months, Patch has partnered with Grape-Nuts to bring you the stories of people who've overcome extraordinary challenges in their personal journey to make other people's lives better. We hope you've enjoyed this series.
About this sponsorship: In honor of the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s historic ascent of Mount Everest, Patch and Grape-Nuts are teaming up to highlight those who inspire people around them to climb their own mountains.
Magda Brown’s nine grandchildren gaze smiling at her from the photos on her refrigerator. They are one of her great joys, yet she is keenly aware her own parents were deprived of similar joy.
They, along with 61 other family members, perished in the Holocaust.
Brown, 86, was taken to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp as well. But she survived to tell her story. Her words, and those of thousands of survivors like her, are housed at Skokie’s Illinois Holocaust Museum, which is recognizing its 50th anniversary this year.
In May, Brown received an honorary doctorate from Aurora University and presented the commencement address, sharing her story as she's done countless times since coming to the United States.
Arrival at Auschwitz
Her story begins in Hungary in June of 1944. On her 17th birthday, Brown and her parents were loaded into a cattle car with about 80 other people.
“It was hot, dark and full of body odor,” Brown remembers. “I stood for three solid days without water. Do you know what it is to go without water for three days? You can’t describe the thirst. You can’t focus on anything else. … I remember a young woman had a baby on her bosom; the baby was already dead.
“When the cars stopped, there was a sea of people. It was chaos. We were ordered to parade forward. You are now a zombie, you have no name.”
She glanced at her mother next to her and told her she would see her later. Brown never saw her again.
“I was led to a building with other women. We were disrobed. Girls in front of us were screaming as their heads were shaved. Then we were led into a room with about 50 showerheads. It was disinfectant. It stung all over my body.”
For days, Brown and hundreds of women had to stand for hours on end, being counted several times a day.
“We were all looking for our family,” Brown continued. “I asked some of the people that were there before us, ‘Do you know where our families are?’ A few of them pointed to five chimneys. Thick black smoke was pouring out of them. The odor was horrid, like when you take the feathers off a chicken. I will always remember that smell.”
Forced Labor, Then Escape
Soon Brown had to disrobe to the waist in front of the guards so they could decide if she was strong enough for labor. She was shipped to an ammunition factory, making bombs for the Nazis.
“I had to work with all these poisons. It was hard work. … In three months, all who worked there, our skin turned yellow and our hair was growing in orange. The poisons were affecting our bodies.”
After about three months, the camp was evacuated.
“We were being sent on a death march,” Brown said. “For three days, we walked for miles. It was wet and cold during the night we slept in ditches. A group of us spotted a barn. We planned to escape to the barn and sleep there. We made it that night.”
Brown stopped talking for a moment as she recalled her strength. “You’d be surprised how much you want to live,” she said.
A couple days later they saw two men in uniforms they didn’t recognize. They were members of the 6th Armored Division from the United States. The soldiers rescued them.
“We cried. We kept hugging these soldiers. We were free,” she said.
After liberation, Brown spent six months in a camp in Germany. A Jewish U.S. Army chaplain asked her if she had relatives around the world. She told him she had an uncle in Chicago. After going back to Hungary to search for her family, she came to Chicago in September of 1946.
Sharing Her Story
“People who survived the Holocaust came to America and shut our mouth and went on with our lives, “ Brown said.
That was until in 1978 when the Nazi movement applied for a permit to march in Skokie, a predominately Jewish community.
“We all came out at that point,” she said.
And the village of Skokie responded. In 1981 it built the first Midwestern Holocaust Museum. Then in April 2009, a larger up-to-date, Illinois Holocaust Museum opened.
Brown says it is a challenge to live with her memories day in and day out. She tries not to cry when she tells her story, but acknowledges that there are some particularly sensitive memories she does not speak about.
She is buoyed by the hundreds of letters of support she receives from students after she speaks to them.
“Of all the thousands of people I have spoken to, only one person was insulting,” she said. “I let him talk. You can’t fight a closed mind.”
She chose to start sharing her story to make sure her history and those like it are remembered.
“I felt I could not bring back my parents or all the millions that perished. I hope people will never forget what happened, that this will never again take place."
To hear Magda Brown’s story, call the Illinois Holocaust Museum at 847-967-4800 to book her or other survivors at your school or community.
Through the past few months, Patch has partnered with Grape-Nuts to bring you the stories of people who've overcome extraordinary challenges in their personal journey to make other people's lives better. We hope you've enjoyed this series.
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