Contemporary witness talk with Grete Hamburg

Grete Hamburg, née Jungleib, was born on January 1, 1930 in Hlohovec, Slovakia. Her father Arnold was a goldsmith and watchmaker, her mother Malvina worked in the business. Her childhood in the Jewish family was happy and her relationship with her brother Walter, who was two years younger, was very close

In 2019, she invited young people from the Kinder vom Bullenhuser Damm association and a team from Zweitzeugen e.V. to visit her in Israel. She had conducted an interview with Yad Vashem in Hebrew about her deportation to Auschwitz, but never in German.

"In Israel, she and her family gave us such a warm welcome. Her daughter Daniela invited us to Shabbat dinner with her and her family. Grete radiates so much joy and strength, despite all the inhumanities that happened to her and her family in Slovakia and Germany. It was so overwhelming to talk to her in Slovak, our mother tongue. I was afraid and respectful to ask her what home means to her. For her, home is Israel, where she founded her family and where they now live. That really touched me."

Stela Vitálošová, participant in the project (17 years old at the time of the interview)

The interview project was funded by the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility, Future (EVZ).

A DVD with the recording of the interview can be ordered free of charge for school lessons at info@kinder-vom-bullenhuser-damm.de