Mr and Mrs Elsztajn were Polish Jews living in Belgium. They were arrested in 1943 and transported to Malines. Mrs Elsztajn describes how people feared Commandant Schmidt of Malines and Breendonck. They were taken to Auschwitz where she was experimented on by Dr Carl Clauberg and with him were doctors Goebbels, Weber, Wirtz and Samuel, a German Jew, who tried his best for them, but was killed before Auschwitz was evacuated because he knew the secrets of Block 10 which housed women used in experiments. On 18 January 1945 they were evacuated from Auschwitz to Ravensbrück on foot in the extreme cold, then to Malchow towards Leipzig-Taucha on trains under continuous bombardment. On 25 April 1945 they were liberated by the Americans and Mrs Elsztajn was repatriated by plane to Belgium where she was reunited with her daughter.
From the guide to the Elsztajn, Hinda: Report regarding Nazi persecution, 1956, (Wiener Library)
