Helga Hošková-Weissová
Encyclopedia
Helga Hošková-Weissová is a Czech
artist, and a Holocaust survivor. She was from the Czech Jewish ghetto of Terezin, and was one of ten percent of children from there to survive the Holocaust, in part because she convinced Josef Mengele
and the other guards that she was older and her mother was younger than they really were. After she and her mother were taken to Auschwitz in 1944, Helga created a diary with images of her life. She was later transferred from Auschwitz to a Flossenbürg
labor camp where she escaped death a second time when she was forced to join a 16-day "death march" to the camp at Mauthausen
. She remained there until the end of the war. After World War II ended, Helga went to Prague, where she was born, and studied painting with the Czech artist Emil Filla
. Her Holocaust diary is slated to be published by Viking on June 7, 2012.
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
artist, and a Holocaust survivor. She was from the Czech Jewish ghetto of Terezin, and was one of ten percent of children from there to survive the Holocaust, in part because she convinced Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele
Josef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...
and the other guards that she was older and her mother was younger than they really were. After she and her mother were taken to Auschwitz in 1944, Helga created a diary with images of her life. She was later transferred from Auschwitz to a Flossenbürg
Flossenbürg
Flossenbürg is a municipality in the district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab in Bavaria in Germany. The state-approved leisure area is located in the Bavarian Forest and borders the Czech Republic in the east. During World War II, the Flossenbürg concentration camp was located here.- History :The...
labor camp where she escaped death a second time when she was forced to join a 16-day "death march" to the camp at Mauthausen
Mauthausen
Mauthausen is a small market town in Upper Austria, Austria. It is located at about 20 kilometers east of the city of Linz, and has a population of 4,850 .During World War II, it became the site of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex....
. She remained there until the end of the war. After World War II ended, Helga went to Prague, where she was born, and studied painting with the Czech artist Emil Filla
Emil Filla
Emil Filla , a Czech painter, was a leader of the Avant-Garde in Prague between World War I and World War II and was an early Cubist painter....
. Her Holocaust diary is slated to be published by Viking on June 7, 2012.