Magda Meller was born on 1 January 1924 in Vranov nad Topl’ou, Slovakia. She lives in Holon, Israel.
（Ester） Gizella ‘Livia/Livi’ Meller was born 16 November 1925 in Vranov nad Topl’ou, Slovakia. She lives in Rehovot, Israel.
A fourth daughter, Emilia, was born three months after her father Menachem Meller’s death and died of tuberculosis before her third birthday.
The sisters’ paternal grandparents, Anyka and Emile Meller, lived and died in Vranov nad Topl’ou, Slovakia.
The sisters’ maternal grandmother, Rosalie Strauss, died in 1934 in Vranov nad Topl’ou, Slovakia. She was a midwife, and delivered all of the Meller girls.
The sisters’ maternal grandfather, Yitzchak Strauss, was murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau on 24 October 1944.
The sisters’ mother, Chaya Sara （née Strauss） Meller, was murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau on 24 October 1944.
Cibi’s husband Mischka was born Mordechai Maximilian Lang on 2 April 1908. He died on 30 March 2000 in Kfar Ahim, Israel.
Magda’s husband Yitzko was born Yitzchak Guttman on 1 November 1911. He died on 5 May 1982 in Holon, Israel.
Livi’s husband, Shmuel, known in the family as Ziggy, was born Viteslav Zigfried Shmuel Ravek on 8 April 1925 in Moravia. He died on 14 December 2015 in Rehovot, Israel.
Cibi married Mischka in Bratislava, Slovakia, on 20 April 1947. Their son Karol （Kari） was born on 16 March 1948 in Bratislava. Their second son Joseph （Yossi） was born on 12 August 1951, in Israel.
Magda married Yitzko in 1950 in Israel. Their daughter Chaya was born on 28 May 1951, in Israel. A second daughter, Judith （Ditti）， was born on 22 September 1955, in Israel.
Livi married Ziggy on 2 May 1953 in Israel. Their son Oded （Odie） was born on 1 August 1955, in Israel. Their daughter Dorit was born on 12 July 1959, in Israel.
The sisters’ uncle Ivan （Strauss）， his wife Helena and children Lily, Gita and David, arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau on 25 October 1944. There was no selection for the gas chambers that day, or any subsequent day. The war was nearly over. Taken on a death march, Helena, weak and sick, fell and died. Ivan and his children made their way back to Bratislava where they were reunited with the sisters. There he met his second wife Irinka and moved to Israel in 1949. They had three further children.
Dr Kisely was the Christian doctor who saved Magda from deportation by admitting her to hospital. Magda remembers his name clearly.
Before they were taken to Auschwitz, Cibi had been passionate about travelling to Palestine, to be part of the creation of a Jewish homeland. A wealthy local Jewish man who had converted to Christianity acquired a property 30km from Vranov. There he provided Hachshara training for young men and women, teaching them about farming, large-scale cooking and other survival skills that would be essential in a new land, with a climate and terrain very different to Slovakia.
Visik was the same age as Cibi. He had been a friend for many years and was part of a social group of young, idealistic women and men, predominantly Jewish, who met regularly, often in the Meller home, to dream, plot and scheme for a better life. He joined the Hlinka Guards and tried to intimidate and harass Cibi while they walked from the synagogue to the train station in Vranov as they were deported for Auschwitz.
Cibi and Livi are listed on the transport leaving Poprad, Slovakia, for ‘Poland’ on 3 April 1942.
Mrs Marilka Trac lived opposite the Mellers and frequently hid Magda in her ceiling during the winter months of 1942 and 1943.
Ilava Prison in Slovakia, where Magda was taken after being captured, was the same prison in which the tattooist of Auschwitz, Lale Sokolov, was imprisoned in 1948.
The Theresienstadt family camp was emptied, and all occupants murdered in the gas chambers, on 8 and 9 March 1944.
Maria Mandel （10 January 1912–24 January 1948, also known as Maria Mandl）， was tried, sentenced and executed for war crimes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Mandl
Elisabeth Volkenrath （5 September 1919–13 December 1945） was tried, sentenced and executed for war crimes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Volkenrath
Heinz Volkenrath （28 December 1920–13 December 1945） was tried, sentenced and executed for war crimes on the same day as his wife.
Mala Zimetbaum （prison number 19880） （26 January 1918–15 September 1944） was the first woman to escape from Auschwitz-Birkenau. She fell in love with a Polish prisoner, Edward （Edek） Galinski. They escaped together on 24 June 1944. Galinski turned himself in to the SS when he saw Mala being arrested. Interrogated and tortured, they were to be executed at the same time in the men’s and women’s camps, respectively. Galinski attempted to jump into the noose before the verdict was read, shouting the words ‘Long live Poland!’ The prisoners, forced to watch, took their caps off as a mark of respect to Galinski, incurring the fury of the guards. The reports of Mala’s death vary in the official records. Livi confirms the report that she bled to death on the cart as she was taken to the crematoria. A musical （Mala, the Music of the Wind） and a film （The Last Stage） have been made about Mala. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mala_Zimetbaum