The following is a synopsis of Eva Neumann’s book, which recounts her life before, during and after the Holocaust.
Eva [then known as Maidi] was born in 1929 in the town of Szolyva in the Carpathian Mountains. [Szolyva was part of Czechoslovakia since 1920 and was ceded to Hungary in 1938. It is now in Ukraine].
She was the eldest child of Yehoshua and Devorah Birnbaum. She had two younger brothers, Shmuel and Yitzchok. Their lives were steeped in Jewish practice, tradition and learning.
Eva explained how their lives became increasingly curtailed by the rising antisemitism. During the Passover holiday 1944 the family was ordered to leave their home and assemble at the synagogue. After several days they were taken to Munkacs, to a brick factory. Here, a gentile friend offered to hide her, but Eva refused to be separated from her family. Three weeks later they were taken to a train station where they boarded a cattle wagon to Auschwitz. Eva described the stench, heat, hunger and lack of sanitation on the tortuous journey.
On the ramp at Auschwitz-Birkenau she faced the selection and was deemed fit or work. This transport was photographed and compiled into the ‘Auschwitz Album’; it is the only visual evidence of the mass murder at Auschwitz. Eva appears in some of the photographs. She was shaved, tattooed and give a uniform to wear. She felt so dehumanised and alone.
Eva was allocated work in ‘Canada’ sorting the belongings of the murdered victims. It was called ‘Canada’ because it was a place of safety and plenty. The job enabled her to pinch food, clothes and on one occasion, diamonds. This possibly saved her life. In January 1945, as the Russian army approached, Eva was forced to march from the camp- the ‘death march’ to Bergen Belson, and then to Berlin. Those who could not continue were shot. The survivors of the death march were put on a train and taken to Neustadt Glewe, where Eva contracted typhus and was left for dead.
After hitchhiking and travelling across Europe, Eva was reunited with a cousin, who she lived with as she recovered her strength.
Through a chance reunion with another cousin in 1949, Eva was later introduced to a Hungarian businessman, Leopold Neumann who had escaped to Britain before the war.
Eva and Leo married 1950 and raised a family in Manchester. They had five children: Josh, Minky, Sammy, Debby and Leah. Sadly, Leopold died in 1994. Eva has 25 grandchildren, almost a hundred descendants in all.
In her latter years, Eva has devoted much of her energy to telling her story. Many have been inspired by her message of hope and kindness, her resilience, her warmth and her wisdom.
