Auschwitz was a large system of different camps. Auschwitz II, or Auschwitz-Birkenau, was built in 1941. In the spring of 1942, it became a combined concentration and extermination camp. Later that year, the construction of four large crematoria and gas chambers started, which became operational in the spring of 1943. Most prisoners who arrived at the camp were taken directly from the train to the gas chambers, where they were murdered.

When Elisabeth and her family arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau, they were separated. Her mother and grandmother were directed one way, while her brother and father were sent another. Elisabeth was left alone and never saw her mother and grandmother again. She was placed in a barrack where only children and young people lived. Later, she met her pregnant aunt Jolanda, who was also imprisoned in Auschwitz.

At Auschwitz-Birkenau, approximately 1.1 million prisoners were murdered, including around 1 million Jews. By the end of 1944, Elisabeth was transported by train to the labor camp Hamburg-Altona in Germany.

At the turn of 1944–1945, SS guards began emptying labor camps and concentration camps of prisoners. The Allied armies, the countries fighting against Nazi Germany, were approaching and the SS leadership hoped to hide the extent of the systematic murders from the outside world.

Part of the effort to cover up the traces of mass murder involved killing those who could no longer walk and forcing the others to march to other camps located more centrally in Germany. Tens of thousands of people died during the so-called death marches. Those who could not walk were shot. Many also died from cold, diseases, and exhaustion.

Many survivors had nowhere to go and ended up in so-called DP camps (displaced persons camps), which had often previously been concentration camps. Protests were held in the DP camps, and trips were organized from Cyprus to the British Mandate of Palestine. However, the British did not permit any Jewish immigration, and most were sent back to Cyprus. Elisabeth was one of these refugees, and she was stuck in Cyprus for several months.

Between 1945 and 1948, over 100 000 Jewish survivors managed to reach the Mandate of Palestine despite the British's strict border controls. The State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948, in accordance with the UN partition plan, and Elisabeth and her husband Georg settled there.

With the White Boats, around 9,000 survivors arrived in Sweden, the majority of whom were Jewish. Many were seriously ill and were placed in emergency hospitals, which were actually prepared for war medical care throughout Sweden. Initially, the refugees were referred to as “repatriandi” (returnees) because the idea was that they would not stay in Sweden.

However, many of the surviving refugees were stateless and had often lost parts, or all of their families. They simply had no homes to return to. Sweden eventually changed its stance on the surviving refugees and allowed those who wanted to stay.