KITTY HART

Return to Auschwitz
The remarkable story of a girl who survived the
. Holocaust

GRANADA
London Toronto Sydney NewYork
 Index
Abmeldeschein (exit permit), 50
Ansell's brewery, 213
Auschwitz (see also Birkenau):
arrival at, 78-9; orchestra, 90,
13 7-8; selection for gas
chambers, 108-9, 118-20;
selection of site, 115; early
gassing experiments, 116;
construction of crematoria,
117-18; Eichmann visits,
116-17,151; treatment ofJew$/
non-Jews, 118; vastness of, 121;
as profit-making enterprise, 122;
medical experiments, 123-4;
factories near, 121-2, 171-2;
camp hierarchy, 124;
professional criminals in, 125;
conditions in winter, 128-9;
dentist, 139; victims burned alive,
160--61; destruction of
crematoria, 170--72; suppliers of
explosives hanged, t72
Auschwitz Il, see Birkenau
Auschwitz Ill, 121
Aussenarbeit (outside work),
92-100; work in potato field,
93-5
Bedarf(S.S. man), 159--60
Beg, Nancie, 218
Belsen camp, 124
Belzec camp, 116
Bielsko, 33, 35, 36
Birkenau (see also Auschwitz):
arrival at, 79; interior of block,
85-6; soup 83-4, 97-8, 223-4;
German slogans, 86; 'tea', 87,
223-4; deaths in first.weeks,
88-9; camp hierar,c!iy, 89;
formation of ' families', 91, 228;
Aussenarbeit (outside work),
92-100; railway line extension,
95-100; lavatory huts, 106;
washrooms, 107; hOspital
compound, see hospital
compound; Block 25, 108-9;
mention of gassing forbidden,
109-10; mass disinfection,
135-6; 'sauna', 135; impromptu
concerts, 13 8; remains of, 231
Birmingham, Kitty arrives in, 14
Birmingham International Centre,
25
Block 25, 108-9
blocks, hospital, see hospital
compound
BIO"ckiilteste (block senior), 90,
100, 101, 129
Bohrmann (S.S. man), 130--31, 132
Brailsford,Dr James, 22-4, 27-8,
210
Breza, Count, 52, 53
Broitzem (Gipsy) camp, 206
Buchenwald, camp, 114
Bug, River, 44-6
camp hierarchy, 89
Cesia (Kitty's friend): at LG.
Farben works, 61; treachery in
Birkenau, 91
236
concentration camps, early (see
also individual (amps), 113-14
crematoria: construction of,
117-18; destroyed by
Sonderkommando, 190--92;
demolished by Germans, 172
Dachau, camp, 115
dead, taking from the, 94
Death Factory, The (Kraus and
Kulka),225
Degesch (German Company for
Pest Control), 116
Dessau, 60--78
Dorohusk, 44-7
Dresden prison, 74-6; air raid, 76
dysentery block, 142
Eichmann, Adolph, 112, 116-17;
visits Auschwitz, 116-17, 151
execution, mock, 71-2
exit permits (Abmeldeschein), 50
factories near Auschwitz, 121-2,
171-2
F allersleben, 192
'families' in Birkenau, 91,228
Family Camps, 169
Farben, l.G.: aluminium works,
60--66; factory near Auschwitz,
121-2
Felix family: Kitty's father, 33;
Kitty procures tobacco for him,
40; taken on by Count Breza,
52; discourages Kitty from
leaving with Simon, 54; returns
to Lublin, 57; plan to go to
Germany, 58; employed by
farmer at Tarnow, 63; news of
his death, 207
grandmother: left in Zabia
Wola, 55; news of her death, 207
Index
mother: arrives in England,
15; posts as housekeeper, 15,
18-19; need to visit Germany,
29; teaches in Bielsko, 34;
teaches English to adult
students, 48; teaches Count
Breza English, 52; as Kitty's
'aunt', 58-69; works at I.G.
Farben aluminium works,
60--66; taken to Ge!,,~po H.Q.,
66-7; tricked intobdieving
Kitty had confe;~ed, 69; mock
execution, 71-2; transferred to
Leipzig prison, 73; transferred to
Dresden prison, 74; arrival at
Auschwitz, 78-9; arm tattooed,
81; allocated to hospital
compound, 92; saves Kitty from
gas chamber, 141; prevents
Kitty from going with Hanka
and Genia to gas chamber, 145;
asks Hossler to get Kitty out of
Kanada, 173-4; leaves
Auschwitz, 175; on death
march, 181-7; interviewed by
American newspapermen, 202;
finds work with Americans, 204;
makes translations for British,
204; and Hossler's trial, 205; at
Broitzem (Gipsy) camp, 206;
German compensation, 215-16
Robert (Kitty's brother), 35;
flees from Lublin, 38; news of his
death, 207
Fenelon, Fania, 90, 143
gassing, 119-21; mention
forbidden, 109-10; early
experiments, 116-17; Kitty first
witnesses, 149-50
Genia (Hank a's sister), 137, 138; at
 Index
l.G. Farben works, 61; reunited
with Kitty, 137; admitted to
Block 29, 144; taken to gas
chamber, 145-6
German Blood and German
Honour, Law for Protection of,
112
ghetto, Jewish: Lublin, 38-43,
48-50; Warsaw, 42
Ginger (Kitty's Kanada friend),
154-6
Gipsy (Broitzem) camp, 206
Gipsy camp (Lager BIle):
extermination, 169
gipsy tells Kitty's fortune, 87
Grese, Irma, 124, 194
Grosse Eule (mountain), 182
Hanka (Kitty's friend), 75, 13 7-8;
at l.G. Farben works, 61;
reunited with Kitty, 137;
admitted to Block 29, 144; taken
to gas chamber, 145
Hart, David (Kitty's first son),
30-31,212,217,228; birth, 211
Hart, Kitty (nee Felix): arrives in
England, 13-15; life in nurses'
home, 15, 17-18; visits
psychiatrist, 18; loneliness in
England, 19-20; leaves accident
hospital, 20; visits Dr Brailsford,
22-'--4; accommodation in shop
front, 24-5; probationer nurse at
Royal Orthopaedic Hospital,
24-7; marriage, 27, 209; full-
time appointment, 27; need to
revisitGermany, 28; qualifies,
27; concentration camp number
removed from arm, 29; returns
to Auschwitz, 31-2, 220-27
birth, 33; early life, 33-5;
attends convent school, 34; wins
237
swimming medal, 34; evacuation
from Bielsko, 35; teeth filled with
diamonds, 38; escape to
Dorohusk, 43-4; failure to cross
River Bug, 45-6; return to
Lublin ghetto, 47; escape to the
south, 50-52; sleeps in shop
front, 51; in Zabia Wola, 51-5;
and Simon, 52, 54; works on
Count Breza's estate, ~,~
sheltered by Baron ;Fyrnau,
55-7; ill with jaundice, 57; takes
false name, 57; arrives in
Dessau, 60; works at l.G.
Farben aluminium WQfks,
60-66; news from her father, 63;
Zosia recognizes her as Jewish,
64; interrogated by Gestapo,
66--8, 69-71; taken to Gestapo
H.Q., 66; mock execution, .
71-72; transferred to Leipzig
prison, 73; transferred to
Dresden prison, 74; first hears of
Auschwitz, 74-5
arrival at Auschwitz, 78-9;
quarantine, 82-92; arm
tattooed, 81; gipsy tells her
fortune, 87; transferred to Camp
BUb, 92; visits to her mother,
94; recognizes Simon, 99; in
railway line Kommando,
95-100; evades work by joining
night shift, 102; gets message to
Simon, 103; lavatory cleaning,
106; attempts to get wood for
stove, 130; flogged, 132-3; rest
in hospital compound, 134;
transferred to Funktion
Hrlftlinge compound, 137;
reunited with Hanka and Genia,
137; contrives dental visits, 139;
her mother saves her from gas
238
chamber, 141; contracts typhus,
140; attempts to go with Hanka
and Genia to gas chamber, 145,
but her mother prevents her,
145; joins Kanada Kommando,
147-8; witnesses gassing for first
time, 149; visits mother, 156-7,
162; teeth containing diamonds
extracted, 162-3; hides jewellery
in soup, 165; leaves Auschwitz,
175; rejoins her mother, 174;
works in Telefunken factory,
177-9; at camp near
Reichenbach, 177-80; on death
march, 181-7; attempts to milk
bull, 183; sleeps in manure heap,
186; reaches Trautenau camp,
186-7; at Porta Westfalica,
189-94; work in annumition
plant, 190-91; knocks Henia
out, 192; left to die in train,
195-6; at Salzwedel camp,
196-7,199-200; is unable to kill
GenTIan family, 201; destroys
portrait of Hitler, 202-3; moves
to camp in Brunswick, 204; finds
work with Americans, 204;
makes translations for British,
204; and Hassler's trial, 205; at
Broitzem (Gipsy) camp, 206;
religious views, 210-11; leaves
Orthopaedic Hospital, 210; birth
of David, 211; obtains mortgage,
211; in private practice with
radiologist, 212; German
compensation, 215-16; return to
Auschwitz, 220-27; her legacy
from Auschwitz, 227-8;
friendships in Auschwitz, 228;
proposal for Holocaust museum,
229
Index
Hart, Peter (Kitty's second son),
212,217,228
Hart, Ralph, 26; marriage, 27, 209;
sets up workshop, 212
Henia (Kitty's friend), 30, 180, 193,
206
Heydrich, Reinhard, 112, 113
Himmler, Heinrich, 113, 114, 116
Hitler, Adolf, 111-112; definition
ofS.S., 114-15; and 'final
solution' of Jewish qu~stion,
116; Kitty destroys portrait of,
202-3
Holocaust Library and Research
Centre, 229 0
hospital compound (Revier),
139-46; Block 10, 123; Block
12, 140-42; Block 29, 142-4
Hass, Rudolf, 115, 116-17
Hassler, Lagerfiihrer, 108, 157;
allows Kitty to join her mother,
, 173-4; hanged, 205
I Am Alive (Kitty's earlier book),
218
lanka (Cesia's sister): at I.G.
Farben works, 61; becomes
messenger in Birkenau, 90-91
Jewish Emigration, Office for, 112
Kanada Kommando, 147-68;
gassing, 149-50; sorting of
possessions, 152-5; off-duty
hours on lawn, 154
Kapo (work party head), 90-102
Kommandos (work parties),
95-101
Kanig, Dr, 144
Krasowski, Father, 48; shelters
Kitty's father, 57
 Index
-Kraus, Ota, 225
Krupp factory near Auschwitz,
121,171
Kulka, Erich, 225
Lagerciltester (leading prisoner),
90, 125
Lagerjiihrer, 125
Lagerkommandant, 125
lavatory huts, 106
Leipzig prison, 73-4
liberation at Salzwedel, 200
lice, 103, 107, 135
Lublin: Kitty's family flee to, 36;
German troops enter, 37; Jewish
ghetto,38-43,48-50
Majdanek camp, 116, 166--7
marriage forbidden between Aryan
Germans and Jews, 112
Max (Kitty's father's cousin): at
Dorohusk, 44-5; escapes
across River Bug, 45; reaches
USA,207-8
medical experiments, 123-4
Mengele, Or, 108, 123-4, 142, 144
Meyer, Herr, 62
Muselmann, 104-5; Kitty as, 142;
and Avo poison, 223
museum of Holocaust, proposed,
229
Nuremberg Laws, 112
Olga (Kitty's aunt), 15
Orchestra, Auschwitz, 90, 137-8
'organizing', 83-4
,Orli (Lageralteste), 126
'p' badge for Polish slave labourers,
61
239
Poland: Nazi invasion, 36; anti-
Semitic feeling in, 42, 113
Porta Westfalica, 189
potato field work, 93-4
Protective Custody (Schutzhajt)
decree, 113
punishment squad (Strajkompani),
130; Kitty flogged, 131-2
quarantine period at Birk\!n!au,
82-92 " '
Reichenbach, 177-80
religious belief, 104, 210-11
Renia (Henia's sister), 193
Revier, see hospital compound
Rohde, Or, 144, 157
roll-call, see Ziihlappell
Rose, Alma, 137, 138; death, 143
S.K. (Strajkompani), see
punishment squad
S.S. (SchutzstafJel): ransom
demands in Lublin, 38-9;
Hitler's definition of, 114; money
in Swiss banks, 124; brothel, 163
Sachsenhausen, 115
Salzwedel camp, 197, 198-200;
burned down, 203-4
'sauna' at Auschwitz, 80, 135
scabies, 107
Schutzhajt (Protective Custody
decree), 113
SchutzstafJel, see S.S.
selection for gas chambers, 107-9,
118-20
Siemens factory, 101-2
Simon (Kitty's first boy-friend), 52,
54,55; Kitty recognizes him in
Auschwitz, 99; Kitty gets
message to him, 103; becomes a
240
Muselmann, 104; death, 105-6
Simon Wiesenthal Centre, 229
slave labour: Himmler authorizes,
114
Sobibor camp, 116
Sonderkommando, 161, 162, 164,
167; destroy crematoria, 170-72
soup in Auschwitz, 83-4, 97-8;
poison in, 223-4
Sport, 128, 130, 137, 158
Strajkompani (S.K.), see
punishment squad
tattoo, concentration camp
number, 81
Taube (roll-call leader), 85, 108,
131-2
'tea' in Ausch~itz, 87; poison in,
223-4
Terezin (Theresienstadt) ghetto,
119
Index
Trautenau camp, 186
Treblinka camp, 116
Turnau, Baron, 55-7
typhus block, 143
Volksdeutschen, 115
Wagner (S.S. man), 164
Warsaw ghetto, 42,ti
Wunch (S.S. map.1;-'i63; acquitted
at trial, 205
Zabia Wola, 51-5,
Zii"hlappell (roll-call), 80, 84-5,
101-2
Zimmelbaum, Mala, 165~6
Zosia (Kitty's friend), 63-4
Zyklon B (prussic acid crystals),
116