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Elizabeth Jaranyi

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Elizabeth Ester Jaranyi
Born
Elizabeth Ester Herczfeld

February 19, 1918
DiedFebruary 23, 1998
Known forHolocaust survivor

Elizabeth Ester Jaranyi (née: Herczfeld) (February 19, 1918 – February 26, 1998)[1] was a survivor of Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust and the memorist of The Flowers From My Mother's Garden.[2]

Early life and Holocaust experiences

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On April 26, 1944, the collection of Jews in Nagykanizsa began, and they were herded into the Nagykanizsa Ghetto. Around 1800 people were gathered there, including Jaranyi.[3] The ghettoization was handled by Hungarian security forces rather than German soldiers. On April 28, 1944, all Jewish men were deported from the ghetto by train for Auschwitz. On May 18, 1944, all remaining people were taken from the ghetto and sent to the same destination.[4] The train ride took six days, which Jaranyi describes in her memoir in detail.[2][4]

When Jaranyi arrived at Auschwitz, she was sorted into Birkenau,[1] one camp of many inside of Auschwitz.[5] The Flowers From My Mother's Garden recounts her time in Auschwitz and subsequent transfer to Neustadt-Glewe, a satellite work camp of the women-only Ravensbrück Concentration Camp.[6] Neustadt-Glewe was liberated by American and Red Army forces on May 2, 1945.[7] This included Jaranyi's liberation as well as the other Neustadt-Glewe occupants'.

The Flowers From My Mother's Garden also recounts Jaranyi's liberation and time after the war, up to her later life after she had emigrated abroad.

After World War II

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After the end of World War II, Jaranyi emigrated to the United States.[1][2] According to Flowers, she married and had children. She died February 26, 1998, in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.[8]

In literature

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Jaranyi's memoir has been added to the American Library of Congress.[9]

She has been quoted in Phillip L. Berman's book The Search for Meaning: Americans Talk About What They Believe and Why. In the book, Berman quotes Jaranyi about losing her faith in God during her concentration camp experience in Auschwitz. There is also a section written exclusively about her titled 'Why Me?'[10]

Jaranyi is also quoted in Re-examining the holocaust through literature by Aukje Kluge and Benn E. Williams.[11]

Jaranyi is listed in the Benjamin and Vladka Meed Registry of Jewish Holocaust Survivors 2000, Volume 3.[12] She is also listed in Dimensions, Volumes 6-7, a collection from Northwestern University of Holocaust survivors.[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "USC Shoah Foundation Institute testimony of Elizabeth Jaranyi". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
  2. ^ a b c Jaranyi, Elizabeth (1985). The Flowers from My Mother's Garden. Judah L. Magnes Museum. ISBN 9780943376264.
  3. ^ "Jewish Mementos in the Zala Comitatus". Scholem and Friends. Archived from the original on 2014-12-30. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
  4. ^ a b "Information Portal to European Sites of Remembrance". memorialmuseums.org. Stiftung Denkmal fur die ermordeten Juden Europas. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
  5. ^ Piper, Franciszek. "Auschwitz II-Birkenau". Memorial and Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Archived from the original on 2013-07-18. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
  6. ^ Saidel, Rochelle G. (2006). The Jewish Women of Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. Terrace Books. ISBN 9780299198640.
  7. ^ "Hadassah Marcus". Voices of the Holocaust. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
  8. ^ "Interactive Search". Roots Web. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
  9. ^ "Jaranyi, Elizabeth, 1918-". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
  10. ^ Berman, Phillip L. (2010). The Search for Meaning: Americans Talk About What They Believe and Why. Random House LLC. ISBN 9780307775474.
  11. ^ Kluge, Aukje (2009). Re-examining the holocaust through literature. Cambridge Scholars Pub. ISBN 978-1443801768.
  12. ^ Benjamin and Vladka Meed Registry of Jewish Holocaust Survivors 2000, Volume 3. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 2000. p. 255. ISBN 0896047032.
  13. ^ Dimensions, Volumes 6-7. Center for Holocaust Studies; Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. 1991. p. 32.
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