Riwka Herszberg

Riwka Herszberg was born in Zduńska Wola, Poland, on June 7, 1938.

When the SS men hanged her at Bullenhuser Damm, she was only six years old.

Her father, Moshe Jakob Herszberg, owned a small cloth factory.

He and his wife Marie, known as Mania, fled with Riwka when the Germans occupied Poland. They were captured and deported to Auschwitz.

Her father Moshe was murdered in Birkenau concentration camp.

Riwka's mother Mania survived the Shoah and returned to Poland to look for Riwka. She later immigrated to the USA and lived in Boston. There she married and adopted a boy. She became seriously ill, had a stroke, and suffered from depression.

When she was shown the photo of Riwka in 1979, she did not recognise her daughter.

Riwka's cousin Ella Kozlowski was sent from Auschwitz to a labour battalion in Bremen, Germany. After her liberation, she went to Israel, where she spent the rest of her life.

Ella, who worked at the Investigation Office for Nazi Violent Crimes in Tel Aviv, discovered Riwka's photo and name on a wanted poster by Günther Schwarberg in 1979 and contacted the journalist.