#HOLOCAUST VICTIM ANNA ANDORN – DIARY ENTRIES

Part V: 1942-44

 

1942 – July 21 – We have been travelling now for 24 hours and we don’t know where we are headed.  We often travel on secondary tracks in order to let transports to the front go ahead.  They have given me a bucket and a cup.  I am allowed to get out of the train at every stop and am supposed to try each time to obtain water for distribution to the “travellers”.  The sliding door [of the car] is [pulled back] to leave only a narrow opening, so that nobody can escape.

            Evening.  An SA man from the troop escorting us speaks to me when the train stops, asking whether I was nurse Anna from Bottrop?  And what was I doing in this train.  I explain the situation to him, and that 26 years ago, I was nurse Anna.  I have a glimpse of his eyes tearing up before he turns away and leaves. 

            At night we stop on an open stretch.  They have placed us in an unlocked section so that I can immediately proceed to look for water.  But there is no house far or near.

            The SA man comes back and says to me: “Nurse Anna, I want to help you.  I know that you saved my life that time in Bottrop”.  I answer him, that he can only help us, my husband and me.  We will not be separated at this time of need.

            He repeats that he can suggest a plan for me.  But the disappearance of two people would endanger his own life, he says, and goes away. 

            Of course I tell Maier about this strange encounter.  He is angry with me that I did not accept [the man’s proposal]: “If we are put into a concentration camp, you can more easily do something for us and for our release from the outside”.

            At the next stop I right away look for the SA man and declare that I am prepared to follow his plan.  He should tell me what I need to do.  The next station is Theresienstadt, our destination, [he says].  Everybody would be leaving the cars, only the dead would be left behind. They would be picked up a little later by a squad and piled up here next to the track.  “First you must hide somewhere and at the right moment lie down among the dead.  The train will be taken to the camp and the bright floodlights will be turned off.  As soon as it is dark, run away!”

            It is known, he explained further, that the Czech population there by the Eger was very hostile to the Germans.  “You will somehow be able to keep alive, [whereas] in the concentration camp you will soon die of hunger.”

            I was able to carry out the plan devised by the SA man.  I lay amongst the dead probably for an hour, but when they shut off the floodlights, I ran off right away.  I watched the guards walking around the high fence with fierce dogs, but they did not notice me at all.

            Finally, I came to a river and washed up.  It was a wonderful, clear summer night.  All the stars were shining.  I was afraid of encountering people.

 

1942 - July 22^nd.  Of course, I had pangs of remorse, thought of Maier and how I could help him.  Then from far away, the bells rang.  I could see the steeple of the church.  I went there, thinking I would thank the Eternal One for my salvation and ask him to guide me further.

            I knelt in the church, communicated in my thoughts with the good Lord himself and asked him only to show me the right way.  There were only a few faithful in the church.  I just observed the preacher, who at the end of the mass came towards me and enquired about me.

            I immediately told him the whole truth, but not that I was a Jew: “I fled from the train and my husband is there in the concentration camp.  I don’t have anything to eat nor anywhere to sleep.”  The old man had a kind face and he thought immediately of how I could be helped.  He told me right away that aiding someone to flee the concentration camp was punishable by death.  So, we had to be very careful.

            In the concentration camp there weren’t only Jews. He could get in without any difficulty to offer the poor people at least some spiritual help.  He [said he] would inquire about my husband and also, if there was a chance, bring him some food.  I could rest every night on the sofa in the sacristy.  Officially, however, he did not want to know anything.

            The church itself was dirty, the floor had not been cleaned for weeks, so I tried to offer my thanks for the preliminary rescue by thoroughly cleaning the church.  The priest looked after my food and my clothing and through him I was also in constant communication with Maier.

 

1943 – I have now been living underground for half a year.  Last year it looked as if Germany was really going to win the war.  People talked to me now and then, I answered only yes or no.  Nobody dares to ask questions about me.  They often bring me something to eat.  They probably suspect why I am here.

            It is winter and it is very cold.  The preacher told me that Maier has a bad cold.  He is so kind to me, and I put him in grave danger.  I have taken the decision to go soon to the camp with him.  He too thinks that that is possible.  He will get a nurse’s outfit for me.  I will have the Red Cross pin on me, so nobody will think anything of it.  But once in the camp, I will quickly have to get a camp uniform.

            We have followed the plan exactly.  We took the camp uniform from a dead person.  Maier is happy that I am again close to him.  Unfortunately, he is very weak. Rumour has it that the Germans have had lots of losses on all fronts and have to retreat everywhere.  Will we live to see our liberation?

            My dear husband died in his sleep on October 21^s .  He did not suffer, it was a collapse of all his vitals.   Alone I cannot and I will not continue living in this hell. “

Translated from the German by Susi Lessing. The original text is at https://digipres.cjh.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE10164662 

 

#HOLOCAUST VICTIM ANNA ANDORN – DIARY ENTRIES

 
Part III:1916-1925

1917 – Yesterday I collapsed [and] fainted at work.  The doctor wants me to take off at least two days.  I have one day behind me already, but I know how urgently I am needed by my brave soldiers.

Mimi has given me two bedsheets.  So, now I have at least material for bandaging.  Mimi and Alfred are going to Berlin next week and will try to have me transferred to a hospital which is better organized.

1917 – They transferred me here to Berlin.  I work every day between eight and ten hours.  In this way I am recovering from the excessive strain. They employ me most often in the children’s clinic.  They know of my previous work.  If only this cruel war were at an end already!

1918 – On October 5^th I received news of my brother Paul being gravely wounded. He is in the military hospital in Bayreuth.  I requested an immediate leave of absence and soon arrived there.  He did not recognize me.  They had amputated both legs in the hope of saving his life in this way.

 He died on October 19^th and my work consisted mainly in transferring the body.  Paul was buried with all the honours of a brave soldier in Bocholt, in the Jewish cemetery.  12 R I R 53 Offiz. St. N.V.L.

1919 –The cruel war ended on November 11. 1918. May the people finally learn to settle their conflicts “in peace.”   Father could not bear the loss of his youngest son.  He died without suffering a lot.

1922- We have had peace for three years now, but the bellicose atmosphere persists.  People blame us, the Jews, for losing the World War.  Walter Rathenau, the man who worked energetically for the reduction of German war debts, was murdered.

1925 – I am here in Zürich, Switzerland, working as a nurse in the Jewish community. My duties are diverse, but satisfy me greatly.   Only at night do I still often think of the terrible time in Bottrop.

 #HOLOCAUST VICTIM ANNA ANDORN – DIARY ENTRIES

 

 
Anna Andorn, nee Löwenstein, was born in Bocholt in 1885. During WWI she volunteered as a nurse. In 1930 she married the widower Meier Andorn, a prominent Jewish cantor and teacher. In 1942, the couple was deported to Teresienstadt, where Meier Andorn died. Anna was moved to Auschwitz in October 1944. She died before the camp inmates were liberated by the Allies in 1945.
Anna’s journal was made available by her nephew, Fritz Rohr, who lives in Paraguay. It constitutes an important historical source documenting the oppression, terror, and suffering of Jews under the Hitler regime.

Anna's diary, Part I 1897-1901

1897 -          “My name is Anna Löwenstein. I am 12 years old, born on July 14^th 1885 in Bocholt, and have decided to write this journal. But not as my friends do, who write down every little bit of rubbish.  At least once a year, I will make an entry in order to record what is most important about that particular period of time.

          Until 2 years ago I attended the Jewish School of Bocholt [where] I was taught by Mr. Spier, whose favourite expression was “Logical consequence”.  Now in the School of the Nuns they try to portray everything as a consequence of “God’s will”.  Studying is not as difficult for me as it is for most of my classmates.  It appears I have a somewhat better memory.
          The singing lessons give me particular joy.  The nun claims that I am the only who always strikes the right note. Also, I seem to have a nice voice. Then Mother Superior asked me to participate in the church-choir.  I immediately explained to her that I am Jewish.  Her answer: “But that doesn’t matter”.
          Initially I did not dare to talk about it at home, but one day my father told me that he had had a glass of beer with the pastor that day.  The pastor had smiled and waved at me the other day as I was coming down the stairs from the choir loft.
          So I feared that the minister might tell him about my participation in the choir and I preferred to talk about it myself.  However, father just laughed about it: “That’s alright, in my youth we used to decorate the synagogue with flowers from the pastor’s garden.  So, you go ahead and help to beautify the service.”
 
1901  -  I left the school at Easter. In fact, I am sad about that.  The nuns made a great effort on our behalf and I very much appreciate them.  And I believe they liked me well in turn.
  Now I help with the housekeeping, I enjoy that more than [helping in] the store.  We are 8 people, Paul, my youngest brother born on February 24^th, 1896 makes the most work for us.
WATCH FOR PART II: 1906-1915
 
Translated from the German by Susi Lessing. The original text is at https://digipres.cjh.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE10164662